Barbarism Begins At Home

Suede - Performance (1994)

2011-06-01T03:37:00.000-04:00

AWESOME live show, with three additional live tracks thrown in for good measure (Later With Jools Holland, 4/6/1993 . The second to last of their last shows with original guitarist Bernard Butler (who is in rare form here). Of note is the opening song "Pantomime Horse," "Heroine," "He's Dead," and "Stay Together" (one of the 4 or 5 times they played it live; GREAT way to end a show) . IMO, this is britpop at it's finest.

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Suede - Stay Together (1994)

2011-05-30T08:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Although the chorus is the weakest of Suede's five singles to this point, thanks to an ineffective falsetto backing vocal by Brett Anderson, a lush and lustful, pretty verse -- another instant tune from guitarist Bernard Butler, the big talent in the band -- and a dramatic bridge punctuated by uncharacteristic background touches in the form of horns and cello make "Stay Together" another fine outing. It's no departure from the LP material, and the rather overt Bowie/Smiths influences are still everywhere, but this is no treading-water release either, particularly since the B-side "The Living Dead" brings the cello back to spruce up a gurgling acoustic track. Similarly, the other B-side "My Dark Star" continues Suede's Smiths-like tradition of high-quality shimmer pop B-sides that often beat their lesser LP material. Butler's guitar stabs like a throbbing tone underneath a tasteful lead in the vocal-less verse. Nice stuff, nice single, exceptional guitar work."

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Sonic Youth - Hallucinogenic Preserve (1996) [bootleg]

2011-05-28T00:37:00.003-04:00

Great bootleg of their performance on tour after their criminally slept-on Washing Machine.

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Slowdive - Outside Your Room (1993)

2011-05-21T07:37:00.001-04:00

"If you don't have Slowdive's EP's you're missing their most of their best music. Luckily, their contents are not nearly as difficult to find as they were ten years ago as a result of reissues and compilations. The original's still command very high prices, however. This one tends to get lost amidst the three earlier ones and the more Post-Rock oriented later ones, but it's still indispensible. Coupling Souvlaki Space Station with Moussaka Chaos is almost an overdose of pure bliss, but the hidden gem here is "So Tired" which has one of the most stunning down-tuned, reverbed guitar parts I've ever heard. All of Slowdive's music is timeless and ravishingly beautiful, and this album is no exception."

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Jacques Brel - Olympia 61 (1962)

2011-05-16T07:37:00.000-04:00

From rateyourmusic (5/5):

"The songs are great, the arrangements perfect, the performances extraordinary. The set has such a terrific flow to it; he knows exactly when a change of mood is required, and almost seems to be telling some abstract story over the duration of the entire record to go with the specific ones in each song.

I realised it had become my favourite record when, almost without meaning to, I kept putting it on to hear the opening numbers (an excellent "Prénoms de Paris" going into a lung-stripping "Les bourgeois" which elicits stunned, even slightly frightened, applause after the first chorus) and found, without fail, that I could not turn it off until the end (when I would quite often put it back to the start and listen again). For a couple of weeks, I listened to it every day, most days more than once. I started to feel that the album was sending me insane, and I didn't care. This slip into the lunatic was confirmed when I heard the record leaking out of the iPod of somebody seated in front of me on the bus (this wasn't in Paris, it was in Rotherham). I took this as a sign from somebody's god that yes, this was it, this was the record. Maybe I should have taken it as a sign that I needed help. Hindsight etc.

Two years later, the fucking thing still makes me miss appointments."

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Saint Etienne - Foxbase Alpha (1991) deluxe ed (2009)

2011-05-11T00:37:00.000-04:00

"This is what started it all. From album to album, the trio of Saint Etienne change musically like a chameleon changes its colors - and each change can be appreciated in a different way. There's something special about Foxbase Alpha, though. Sure it's a little rough around the edges (not having the help of the mixers from albums like Tiger Bay and Continental), but this album has a warmth all its own - a sort of timelessness, if you will. Some of the songs on the album are achievements that the Etienne have yet to top. 'Nothing Can Stop Us' is an amazing song, and it WILL put you in a good mood, no question. 'London Belongs To Me' washes you away in a dreamy sea of gentle vocals and synths. And of course, there's 'Spring', an utterly charming and innocent number. Those are my favorites, but I haven't even mentioned their outstanding covers - 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' by Neil Young, 'Kiss And Make Up' by the Field Mice... I could go on and on.

I love all of Saint Etienne's albums, and I appreciate each of them for what they are - it takes guts to make a pop record one year and a techno one the next, at the risk of seriously alienating some fans. Foxbase Alpha, though, is on a pedestal in my heart. Bob Stanley, Pete Wiggs, and Sarah Cracknell may have gone on from here to explore newer, stranger, and wilder sonic frontiers, but this, their first foray into music, is simply magical."

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Rites of Spring - End On End (1991)

2011-05-06T00:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Released on CD by Dischord in 1991, this digital version of End on End covers the complete recorded output of the legendary Rites of Spring: their self-titled LP, the All Through a Life EP, and one extra song. One of the first bands to be labeled emocore, Rites of Spring would seem to transcend all labels as their music cuts right through to the heart of universal human experience. Emotional? Yes -- check out the bitter memorial relived on "For Want Of," the pulse pounding moment-grab that is "Drink Deep," or the devoted searches for honesty and meaning explored on "End on End," "Theme," and really just about every track on the disc. Hardcore? Yes -- emerging from the D.C. scene, the music is pure focused energy, not a single note wasted. The band at times is fast and furious, at other times lush and evocative though always with a sense of drive and melody. Rites of Spring hint at some of the territory vocalist/guitarist Guy Picciotto and drummer Brendan Canty would later survey with Fugazi, but this band is much more than just a stepping stone. End on End, quite simply, is a testament to the rich possibilities of sincerity in music."

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M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us (2005)

2011-04-30T23:51:00.004-04:00

From allmusic (3.5/5):

"Before the Dawn Heals Us is M83's follow-up to the 2003 international breakthrough Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts. If you're noticing a trend toward drifting album titles, that's deliberate -- M83 mastermind Anthony Gonzalez loves crafting antigravity masterpieces of layered and meandering synthesizers. He's also the principal player on Dawn, with previous collaborator Nicolas Fromageau having moved into solo work. Left to his own devices, Gonzalez has made a more cohesive record than Dead Cities. As nice as they were, that album's synthesized soundscapes tended to drift into a foggy territory between Boards of Canada and Tangerine Dream. Dawn remedies that with the addition of vocals, more consistent beats, and a cinematic pace. "Teen Angst" and "Don't Save Us From the Flames" pin gorgeous melodies to an indie electronic sound comparable to the Notwist; "Flames" in particular is a great departure, roaring out of the gate with giddy drum fills and an oscillating keyboard squiggle. "Farewell/Goodbye" is an icy, Air-ish duet between Ben of Cyann & Ben and Big Sir vocalist Lisa Papineau; it's not the most effective thing on Before the Dawn Heals Us, but it works as a love theme to the imaginary Michael Mann film Gonzalez seems at times to be directing. (Check out that cover art.) The album also has its stretches of instrumental wander. "I Guess I'm Floating," for example, features a scattered sample of children's laughter over lingering keyboard flourishes. But Gonzalez never gets carried away on the breeze -- he'll set a mood, but he'll cut it wide open, too. "Let Men Burn Stars" is a breathy and innocuous lull before the recording's most intense passage, "Car Chase Terror." "Look at my hands, I'm shaking...." a woman (actress Kate Moran) says over the hiss of crickets, her words tense with fear. A moody electronic pulse fades in, and suddenly you're in the midst of the chase, narrated by the same scared voice -- "Turn the key! Go! Go!" -- and the melody is melodramatic and terrifying all at once. Before the Dawn Heals Us is ambitious for sure, an emphatic step forward from the linger of Dead Cities. But it might also be a transition album for Gonzalez, a storyboard of where he'll take M83 next."

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Portishead - Roseland NYC Live (1998)

2011-04-24T18:28:00.004-04:00

From allmusic (3/5):

"By the end of the '90s, artists realized that CD and CD-R bootlegs of live performances were in high demand, which meant that they could profit by officially releasing certain "special" live performances. Portishead's one-night stand at New York City's Roseland Ballroom, released as PNYC, certainly qualifies as one of those "special" occasions. Performing with a 35-piece orchestra, Portishead runs through selections from its two albums, favoring its second slightly. On the surface, it doesn't seem like the orchestra would add much to the performances, especially since the arrangements remain similar, but its presence makes the music tense, dramatic, and breathtaking. This is especially true of the material from Portishead. On album, several of these songs sounded a little flat, but here they soar right alongside such staples as "Mysterons," "Sour Times," and "Glory Box." That alone doesn't necessarily make PNYC revelatory -- instead, it deepens a listener's understanding of the artist, much like the Tindersticks' The Bloomsbury Theatre. Which means, of course, that PNYC is much more compelling and essential than the average live album."

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Kyuss - Blues for the Red Sun - (1992)

2011-04-20T04:20:00.005-04:00

In honor of 4/20.

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"With Josh Homme's guitar tuned down two whole steps to C, and plugged into a bass amp for maximum distortion, stoner metal pioneers Kyuss achieve a major milestone in heavy music with their second album, 1992's Blues for the Red Sun. Producer Chris Goss masterfully captures the band's unique heavy/light formula, which becomes apparent as soon as the gentle but sinister intro melody gives way to the chugging main riff in the opener, "Thumb." This segues immediately into the galloping "Green Machine," which pummels forward inexorably and even features that rarest rock & roll moment: a bass solo. "Thong Song" alternates rumbling guitar explosions with almost complete silence, and "Mondo Generator" plays like an extended acid trip. The slow build of the epic "Freedom Run" and the driving "Allen's Wrench" are also highlights, and though the album is heavy on instrumentals, these actually provide a seamless transition from song to song."

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Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990)

2011-04-15T13:37:00.004-04:00

From allmusic (5/5):

"At their peak, the Happy Mondays were hedonism in perpetual motion, a party with no beginning and no end, a party where Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches was continually pumping. The apex of their career (and quite arguably the whole baggy/Madchester movement), Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches pulsates with a garish neon energy, with psychedelic grooves, borrowed hooks, and veiled threats piling upon each other with the logic of a drunken car wreck. As with Bummed, a switch in producers re-focuses and redefines the Mondays, as Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne replace the brittle, assaultive Martin Hannett production with something softer and expansive that is truly dance-club music instead of merely suggestive of it. Where the Stone Roses were proudly pop classicists, styling themselves after the bright pop art of the '60s, the Mondays were aggressively modern, pushing pop into the ecstasy age by leaning hard on hip-hop, substituting outright thievery for sampling. Although it's unrecognizable in sound and attitude, "Step On," the big hit from Pills, is a de facto cover of John Kongos' "He's Gonna Step on You Again," LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade" provides the skeleton for "Kinky Afro," but these are the cuts that call attention to themselves; the rest of the record is draped in hooks and sounds from hits of the past, junk culture references, and passing puns, all set to a kaleidoscopic house beat. Oakenfold and Osborne may be responsible for the sound of Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches, certainly more than the band, which almost seems incidental to this meticulously arranged album, but Shaun Ryder is the heart and soul of the album, the one that keeps the Mondays a dirty, filthy rock & roll outfit. Lifting melodies at will, Ryder twists the past to serve his purpose, gleefully diving into the gutter with stories of cheap drugs and threesomes, convinced that god made it easy on him, and blessed with that knowledge, happy to traumatize his girlfriend's kid by telling them that he only went with his mother cause she was dirty. He's a thug and something of a poet, creating a celebratory collage of sex, drugs, and dead-end jobs where there's no despair because only a sucker could think that this party would ever come to an end."

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The White Stripes - De Stijl (2000)

2011-04-08T18:05:00.005-04:00

Wish they hadn't broken up a few months ago :[

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Despite their reputation as garage rock revivalists, the White Stripes display an impressive range of styles on their second album, De Stijl, which is Dutch for "the style." Perhaps the album's diversity -- which incorporates elements of bubblegum, cabaret, blues, and classic rock -- shouldn't come as a surprise from a band that dedicates its album to bluesman Blind Willie McTell and Dutch artist Gerrit Rietveld. Nevertheless, it's refreshing to hear the band go from the Tommy James-style pop of "You're Pretty Good Looking" to the garagey stomp of "Hello Operator" in a one-two punch. It's even more impressive that the theatrical, piano-driven ballad "Apple Blossom" and a cover of Son House's "Death Letter" go so well together on the same album. Jack White's understated production work and versatile guitar playing and vocals also stand out on the languid, fuzzy "Sister, Do You Know My Name?" as well as insistent rockers like "Little Bird" and "Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me?" As distinctive as it is diverse, De Stijl blends the Stripes' arty leanings with enough rock muscle to back up the band's ambitions."

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The Gun Club - Fire of Love (1981)

2011-04-01T18:37:00.003-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"The Gun Club's debut is the watermark for all post-punk roots music. This features the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce's swamped-out brand of roiling rock, swaggerific hell-bound blues, and gothic country. With Pierce's wailing high lonesome slide guitar twinned with Ward Dotson's spine-shaking riffs and the solid yet off-the-rails rhythm section of bassist Rob Ritter and drummer Terry Graham, the Gun Club burst out of L.A. in the early '80s with a bone to pick and a mountain to move -- and they accomplished both on their debut album. With awesome, stripped to the frame production by the Flesh Eaters' Chris D., Fire of Love blew away all expectations -- and with good reason. Nobody has heard music like this before or since. Pierce's songs were rooted in his land of Texas. On "Sex Beat," a razor-sharp country one-two shuffle becomes a howling wind as Pierce's wasted, half-sung half-howled vocals relate a tale of voodoo, sex, dope, and death. The song choogles like a freight train coming undone in a twister. Here Black Flag, the Sex Pistols, Son House, and the coughing, hacking rambling ghost of Hank Williams all converge in a reckless mass of seething energy and nearly evil intent. As if the opener weren't enough of a jolt, the Gun Club follow this with a careening version of House's "Preachin the Blues," full of staccato phrasing and blazing slide. But it isn't until the anthemic, opiate-addled country of "She's Like Heroin to Me" and the truly frightening punk-blues of "Ghost on the Highway" that the listener comes to grip with the awesome terror that is the Gun Club. The songs become rock & roll ciphers, erasing themselves as soon as they speak, heading off into the whirlwind of a storm that is so big, so black, and so awful one cannot meditate on anything but its power. Fire of Love may be just what the doctor ordered, but to cure or kill is anybody's guess."

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A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head (2009)

2011-03-26T17:37:00.004-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Though A Place to Bury Strangers called their second album Exploding Head, it's arguable that their debut, with its walls of low-rent distortion and abrasive beats, was more cranium-crushing. Even if the band's move to Mute resulted in cleaner, ever-so-slightly calmer surroundings for their music, A Place to Bury Strangers' sound and songwriting have more power and nuance here, as well as more structure -- nearly every song balances the black-on-black menace of their debut with pop appeal. Nowhere is this clearer than on "It Is Nothing," which opens the album with a three-minute burst of buzzsaw guitars, or on "Lost Feeling," which boasts a subtle tension and dive-bombing dynamics that wouldn't have been possible on the band's debut. This faithfulness to shoegaze's dark side sets A Place to Bury Strangers apart from many of their fellow revivalists who favor wispy, cotton-candy clouds of sound. Befitting their name, the band is still obsessed with death and destruction, be it physical or spiritual (as on the aptly fuzzed-out epic "Ego Death"). Interestingly, Exploding Head's more polished production brings out some of the more retro elements in the band's music, underscoring their fondness for goth, synth pop -- and in "Deadbeat"'s case, surf rock -- as well as their shoegaze foundations. They sound more like a pissed-off, guitar-enhanced New Order than ever on "In Your Heart," and close the album with "I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart," which offers heroic doses of pure effect pedal-stomping heaven. At times, listeners of a certain age will swear they heard one of these songs on college radio or saw one of the band's video on 120 Minutes or PostModern MTV -- "Slipping Away" in particular has the feeling of a forgotten classic -- and that's a compliment. Exploding Head is a fine step forward for A Place to Bury Strangers, and shows they're among the best bands bringing shoegaze into the 21st century"

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Orange Juice - The Glasgow School (2005)

2011-03-19T17:37:00.005-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Orange Juice's three albums, along with compilations of various shapes and sizes, have floated in and out of print throughout the years. This hasn't made it convenient for anyone curious about the band, whether the interest was sparked by Haircut 100, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Belle & Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, the unlikely mainstream success of Edwyn Collins' "A Girl Like You," the history of post-punk, or the birth of indie pop. The Glasgow School, released in 2005 by Domino, contains the band's four singles for Postcard, the bulk of Ostrich Churchyard (a disc released in 1992, containing early versions of what would become 1982's You Can't Hide Your Love Forever), a Stars on 45-style version of "Simply Thrilled Honey," and a crude cover of the Ramones' "I Don't Care." For a lot of people, the material here (dating no later than 1981) is where Orange Juice begins and ends. The band signed to Polydor soon after the latest song on this disc was recorded, and they promptly gave their sound a coat of shiny wax -- so they helped invent indie pop, only to abandon it before their first album. Though the notion extends throughout Orange Juice's discography, they were nothing if not fearless. What other way is there to describe lyrics like "I wore my fringe like Roger McGuinn's/I was hoping to impress/So frightfully camp -- you laughed," or their wholly convincing (if occasionally gawky) way of bouncing the jangly folk-rock of the Byrds off the fat-bottomed disco drive of Chic, all the while creating an identity all their own? Both the singles and the Ostrich Churchyard takes are as crafty as they are crude, and if you can't get past the amateurishness, there's plenty of winsome attitude to win you over. This disc serves as proof that, along with Josef K, Associates, Altered Images, Simple Minds, Cocteau Twins, and the Scars, Orange Juice helped make Scotland a very productive resource during the post-punk/new wave era"

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Mobb Deep - The Infamous... (1995)

2011-03-11T10:37:00.000-05:00

From allmusic (5/5):

"One of the cornerstones of the New York hardcore movement, The Infamous is Mobb Deep's masterpiece, a relentlessly bleak song cycle that's been hailed by hardcore rap fans as one of the most realistic gangsta albums ever recorded. Given Mobb Deep's youthful age and art-school background, it's highly unlikely that The Infamous is drawn strictly from real-life experience, yet it's utterly convincing, because it has all the foreboding atmosphere and thematic sweep of an epic crime drama. That's partly because of the cinematic vision behind the duo's detailed narratives, but it's also a tribute to how well the raw, grimy production evokes the world that Mobb Deep is depicting. The group produced the vast majority of the album itself, with help on a few tracks from the Abstract (better known as Q-Tip), and establishes a spare, throbbing, no-frills style indebted to the Wu-Tang Clan. This is hard, underground hip-hop that demands to be met on its own terms, with few melodic hooks to draw the listener in. Similarly, there's little pleasure or relief offered in the picture of the streets Mobb Deep paints here: They inhabit a war zone where crime and paranoia hang constantly in the air. Gangs are bound together by a code of fierce loyalty, relying wholly on one another for survival in a hopeless environment. Hostile forces -- cops, rivals, neighborhood snitches -- are potentially everywhere, and one slip around the wrong person can mean prison or death. There's hardly any mention of women, and the violence is grim, serious business, never hedonistic. Pretty much everything on the album contributes to this picture, but standouts among the consistency include "Survival of the Fittest," "Eye for a Eye," "Temperature's Rising," "Cradle to the Grave," and the classic "Shook Ones, Pt. 2." The product of an uncommon artistic vision, The Infamous stands as an all-time gangsta/hardcore classic"

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Pulp - This Is Hardcore (1998) + This Is Glastonbury

2011-03-05T10:37:00.001-05:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

""This is the sound of someone losing the plot/you're gonna like it, but not a lot." So says Jarvis Cocker on "The Fear," the opening track on This Is Hardcore, the ambitious follow-up to Pulp's breakthrough Different Class, thereby providing his own review for the album. Cocker doesn't quite lose the plot on This Is Hardcore, but the ominous, claustrophobic "The Fear" makes it clear that this is a different band, one that no longer has anthems like "Common People" in mind. The shift in direction shouldn't come as a surprise -- Pulp was always an arty band -- but even the catchiest numbers are shrouded in darkness. This Is Hardcore is haunted by disappointments and fear -- by the realization that what you dreamed of may not be what you really wanted. Nowhere is this better heard than on "This Is Hardcore," where drum loops, lounge piano, cinematic strings, and a sharp lyric create a frightening monument to weary decadence. It's the centerpiece of the album, and the best moments follow its tone. Some, like "The Fear," "Seductive Barry," and "Help the Aged," wear their fear on their sleeves, some cloak it in Bowie-esque dance grooves ("Party Hard") or in hushed, resigned tones ("Dishes"). A few others, such as the scathing "I'm a Man" or "A Little Soul," have a similar vibe without being explicitly dark. Instead of delivering an entirely bleak album, Pulp raise the curtain somewhat on the last three songs, but the attempts at redemption -- "Sylvia," "Glory Days," "The Day After the Revolution" -- don't feel as natural as everything that precedes them. It's enough to keep the album from being a masterpiece, but it's hardly enough to prevent it from being an artistic triumph"

Also included is a bonus disc entitled This Is Glastonbury, a live show.

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ABC - The Lexicon of Love (1982)

2011-03-01T02:37:00.004-05:00

From allmusic (5/5):

"ABC's debut album combined the talents of the Sheffield, U.K.-based band, particularly lead singer Martin Fry, a fashion plate of a frontman with a Bryan Ferry fixation, and the inventive production style of former Buggles member Trevor Horn and his team of musicians, several of whom would go on to form the Art of Noise. Horn created dense tracks that merged synthesizer sounds, prominent beats, and swaths of strings and horns, their orchestrations courtesy of Anne Dudley, who would follow her work with the Art of Noise by becoming a prominent film composer, and who here underscored Fry's stylized romantic lyrics and dramatic, if affected, singing. The production style was dense and noisy, but frequently beautiful, and the group's emotional songs gave it a depth and coherence later Horn works, such as those of Yes ("Owner of a Lonely Heart") and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, would lack. (You can hear Horn trying out the latter band's style in "Date Stamp.") Fry and company used the sound to create moving dancefloor epics like "Many Happy Returns," which, like most of the album's tracks, deserved to be a hit single. (In the U.K., four were: "Tears Are Not Enough," "Poison Arrow," "The Look of Love," and "All of My Heart," the last three making the Top Ten; in the U.S., "The Look of Love" and "Poison Arrow" charted Top 40.) ABC, which began fragmenting almost immediately, never equaled its gold-selling first LP commercially or artistically, despite some worthy later songs."

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The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands (1987)

2011-02-25T03:37:00.000-05:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Feeling no doubt burdened by the various claims of being the new Sex Pistols, and likely fed up with accusations that the walls of feedback were their own trick, the Reid brothers underwent a bit of a rethink with Darklands. The end result must have fallen squarely between two camps -- hardly eligible for sunny commercial airplay, not quite as flailing as the earliest efforts -- but, from a distance, this is an appealing, enjoyable record. Songs were often longer while the album itself was shorter than Psychocandy, walls of sound were often stripped away in favor of calmer classic rock twang and groove, while William Reid took the lead vocal at points, showing he had a slightly sweeter, wistful tone in comparison to his brother. However, the changes on Darklands can be overstated -- the basic formula at the heart of the band (inspired plagiarism of melodies and lyrics alike, plenty of reverb, etc.) stayed pretty much the same, even if the mixes were cleaned up -- compare "Down on Me" to any Psychocandy cut for a good example of the difference. The use of drum machines in place of Bobby Gillespie's rumble tended to enforce the newer focus, but at the album's best, such a seeming dichotomy didn't cause too much worry. "April Skies" made for a great single, while the soaring-in-spite-of-itself "Happy When It Rains" was another winner, one that Garbage more or less made its own some years later for its own similarly titled hit. William's singing turns made for other highlights as well, notably "Nine Million Rainy Days," the overt misery of the title suiting the dark crawl of the song, and the lengthy lament "On the Wall." Darklands is no Psychocandy in the end -- nothing the band released later ever was -- but it's still a good listen."

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Binary Star - Masters of the Universe (2000)

2011-02-19T13:37:00.003-05:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Any lucky owner of Binary Star's limited-distribution pressing of the 1999 LP Waterworld would already be familiar with most of the material on Masters of the Universe. It has everything a great hip-hop album requires, with varied beats, differing rhyme deliveries, and content you'll find yourself thinking about long after it's been said. Unfortunately, without a huge marketing budget from a major label, this album will probably fail to reach the level of success it deserves, but then again, Binary Star isn't necessarily after the typical ideal of success. With quotes like this -- "Rap's got 'em brainwashed with cash that don't last/And five minutes of fame, that's when it's a shame/Seein' real MCs try to imitate rappers/If you ask me, they goin' out ass-backwards/Tradin' in respect just to push a phat Lex/And Puffy rhymin' on the remix, what's next?!" -- it's easy to see why this is a refreshing alternative from the mainstream of rap."

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The Gun Club - Miami (1982)

2011-02-14T11:37:00.000-05:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"The sophomore record by the Gun Club bore the curse of having to follow a monolith of their own making. Fire of Love sold extremely well for an independent; it was a favorite of virtually every critic who heard it in 1981. Miami showcased a different lineup as well. Ward Dotson replaced Congo Powers (temporarily, at least) on guitar, and there were a ton of guest performances, including Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. Stein produced the album. Off the bat the disc suffers from a thin mix. Going for a rougher sound, Stein left the instruments at one level and boosted Pierce's vocal. There is plenty of guitar here, screaming and moping like a drunken orphan from the Texas flatlands, but next to its predecessor it sounds drier and reedier. Ultimately it hardly matters. Going for a higher, more desolate sound, frontman and slide player Jeffrey Lee Pierce and his band were literally on fire. The songs here, from "Carry Me," "Like Calling Up Thunder," "Devil in the Woods," "Watermelon Man," "Bad Indian," and "Texas Serenade," among others, centered themselves on a mutant form of country music that met the post-punk ethos in the desert, fought and bloodied each other, and decided to stay together. This is hardcore snake-charming music (as in water moccasins not cobras), evil, smoky, brash, and libidinally uttered. Their spooky version of an already creepy tune by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Run Through the Jungle" runs the gamut from sexual nightmare to voodoo ritual gone awry. Finally, Pierce and company pull out all the roots and reveal them for what they are: "John Hardy," is a squalling punk-blues, with the heart of the country in cardiac arrest. Dotson proved to be a fine replacement for Congo Powers, in that his style was pure Telecaster country (à la James Burton) revved by the Rolling Stones and Johnny Thunders. Miami was given a rough go when it was issued for its production. But in the bird's-eye view of history its songs stack up, track for track, with Fire of Love and continue to echo well into this long good night."

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - B.R.M.C. (2001)

2010-11-08T11:29:00.006-05:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"This L.A.-based band (originally hailing from San Francisco) came along just when they were needed most. This self-produced major-label debut boldly plunders a reverb-and-white noise course previously trampled underfoot by long-gone British bands of the late '80s and early '90s (the Jesus & Mary Chain, the Verve, Ride, the Stone Roses, etc.). It all sounds very British, on many levels, despite the fact that only one band member is an Englishman living in exile in the States. On some songs, however, the driving, over-amped guitars (often buzzing with "VU needles-in-red"-type feedback) and pounding drums have a swaggering primeval feel that rivals solid Detroit rock outfits, both old and new (including the Stooges and the Go, to name two). A few have dark, introspective lyrics, with subjects like impending death ("Rifles" at their heart, while others have a positive, more uplifting feel (cf. "Salvation"), but it's really the group's cohesive, solid production overall that captures a shoegazing, blustery rock vibe not heard for nearly a decade or more. Highlights abound on this astonishing disc, including the bitter opening salvo, "Love Burns," the diaphanous space pop of "Too Real," and the flurry of sawtooth guitar scree that is "Whatever Happened to My Rock n' Roll (Punk Song)," a track recalling the manic intensity of the Stooges circa Fun House."

I really like "Rifles"; the next track, "Too Real" is amazing, with wonderful lyrics:

"Don't want to see what all these people see
They all seem lost with what they've found
Don't want to hear what all these people hear
It seems to tell them there's no sound
Don't want to fight who all these people fight
It's only truth that's been denied

Does it feel too real
When everything you've learned to love seems to change?
Does it feel too real
When everything you love to fear seems the same?"

This has a few bonus tracks, my favourite of which is "At My Door".

Preview here.

Gang of Four - Entertainment! (1979)

2010-05-11T15:37:00.000-04:00

I suppose for a little while I'll just post some of my personal favourite albums. This will continue for a while; it started with The Stooges' Funhouse.

From allmusic (5/5):

"Entertainment! is one of those records where germs of influence can be traced through many genres and countless bands, both favorably and unfavorably. From groups whose awareness of genealogy spreads wide enough to openly acknowledge Gang of Four's influence (Fugazi, Rage Against the Machine), to those not in touch with their ancestry enough to realize it (rap-metal, some indie rock) -- all have appropriated elements of their forefathers' trailblazing contribution. Its vaguely funky rhythmic twitch, its pungent, pointillistic guitar stoccados, and its spoken/shouted vocals have all been picked up by many. Lyrically, the album was apart from many of the day, and it still is. The band rants at revisionist history in "Not Great Men" ("No weak men in the books at home"), self-serving media and politicians in "I Found That Essence Rare" ("The last thing they'll ever do?/Act in your interest"), and sexual politics in "Damaged Goods" ("You said you're cheap but you're too much"). Though the brilliance of the record thrives on the faster material -- especially the febrile first side -- a true highlight amongst highlights is the closing "Anthrax," full of barely controlled feedback squalls and moans. It's nearly psychedelic, something post-punk and new wave were never known for. With a slight death rattle and plodding bass rumble, Jon King equates love with disease and admits to feeling "like a beetle on its back." In the background, Andy Gill speaks in monotone of why Gang of Four doesn't do love songs. Subversive records of any ilk don't get any stronger, influential, or exciting than this."

Get it here.

Nas - Illmatic (1994)

2010-05-06T04:11:00.001-04:00

The most cogent argument for hip-hop ever, IMO. No skits, only one guest appearance (which happens to be one of the best guest verses ever).

From allmusic (5/5):

"Often cited as one of the best hip-hop albums of the '90s, Illmatic is the undisputed classic upon which Nas' reputation rests. It helped spearhead the artistic renaissance of New York hip-hop in the post-Chronic era, leading a return to street aesthetics. Yet even if Illmatic marks the beginning of a shift away from Native Tongues-inspired alternative rap, it's strongly rooted in that sensibility. For one, Nas employs some of the most sophisticated jazz-rap producers around: Q-Tip, Pete Rock, DJ Premier, and Large Professor, who underpin their intricate loops with appropriately tough beats. But more importantly, Nas takes his place as one of hip-hop's greatest street poets — his rhymes are highly literate, his raps superbly fluid regardless of the size of his vocabulary. He's able to evoke the bleak reality of ghetto life without losing hope or forgetting the good times, which become all the more precious when any day could be your last. As a narrator, he doesn't get too caught up in the darker side of life — he's simply describing what he sees in the world around him, and trying to live it up while he can. He's thoughtful but ambitious, announcing on "N.Y. State of Mind" that "I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death," and that he's "out for dead presidents to represent me" on "The World Is Yours." Elsewhere, he flexes his storytelling muscles on the classic cuts "Life's a Bitch" and "One Love," the latter a detailed report to a close friend in prison about how allegiances within their group have shifted. Hip-hop fans accustomed to 73-minute opuses sometimes complain about Illmatic's brevity, but even if it leaves you wanting more, it's also one of the few '90s rap albums with absolutely no wasted space. Illmatic is a great lyricist, in top form, meeting great production, and it remains a perennial favorite among serious hip-hop fans."

Some of my favourite lines:

"I woke up early on my born day, I'm twenty years of blessing

The essence of adolescence leaves my body now I'm fresh in

My physical frame is celebrated cause I made it

One quarter through life some God-ly like thing created" - "Life's a Bitch"

"I took the L when he passed it, this little bastard

Keeps me blasted he starts talkin mad shit

I had to school him, told him don't let niggas fool him

'Cause when the pistol blows that's when the murdered be the cool one

Tough luck when niggas are struck, families fucked up

Could've cought your man, but didn't look when you bucked up

Mistakes happen, so take heed never bust up

At the crowd catch him solo, make the right man bleed

Shorty's laugh was cold blooded as he spoke so foul

Only twelve trying to tell me that he liked my style

Then I rose, wiping the blunts ash from my clothes

Then froze only to blow the herb smoke through my nose" - "One Love"

"Fuck 'rap is real', watch the herbs stand still

Never talkin to snakes cause the words of man kill

True in the game, as long as blood is blue in my veins

I pour my Heineken brew to my deceased crew on memory lane" - "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)

Get it here.

Last fm... do you have one?

2010-05-03T16:59:00.001-04:00

Friend us on last fm

Roberto :http://www.last.fm/user/deadhippie61

Steve: http://www.last.fm/user/Wafflecake

The Stooges - Funhouse [Deluxe Edition] (1970)

2010-05-03T15:37:00.003-04:00

One of my all-time faves. Like, we're talking Top 15 Albums of All Time-material.

From allmusic (5/5):

"The Stooges' first album was produced by a classically trained composer who dabbled in rock & roll and the avant-garde; their second was supervised by a guy who had once been the keyboard player with the Kingsmen, and if that didn't make all the difference, it at least indicates why Fun House was a step in the right direction right out of the gate. Producer Don Gallucci took the sensible approach that the Stooges were a powerhouse live band, and his best bet was to re-create the group's live set with as little fuss as possible. As a result, the production on Fun House bears some resemblance to the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" -- the sound is smeary and bleeds all over the place, but it packs the low-tech wallop of a concert pumped through a big PA, bursting with energy and immediacy. The Stooges were also a much stronger band this time out; Ron Asheton's blazing minimalist guitar runs had gained little in the way of technique since The Stooges, but his confidence had grown by a quantum leap as he summoned forth the sounds that would make him the hero of proto-punk guitarists everywhere, and the brutal pound of drummer Scott Asheton and bassist Dave Alexander had grown to heavyweight champion status. And Fun House is where Iggy Pop's mad genius first reached its full flower; what was a sneer on the band's debut had grown into the roar of a caged animal desperate for release, and his rants were far more passionate and compelling than what he had served up before. The Stooges may have had more "hits," but Fun House has stronger songs, including the garage raver to end all garage ravers in "Loose," the primal scream of "1970," and the apocalyptic anarchy of "L.A. Blues." In 2005, Rhino Records released a deluxe edition of Fun House that gave the album a long-needed remastering for CD, and included a bonus disc of alternate takes from the original recording sessions. The additional disc isn't especially revelatory for hardcore fans, since everything on it (except for a very raw demo of "Loose") appeared on the box set 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions, including the hilarious single mix of "Down on the Street" (with a neo-Ray Manzarek keyboard part clumsily overdubbed over the top), two songs that didn't make the final cut of the album, and Iggy imitating his favorite wrestler. But given the fact the 1970 box is out of print (and commanding big bucks on eBay), the bonus disc does a nice job of condensing its material and summing up how this Fun House took shape, and the remastering of the original album makes it sound as loud and proud on CD as it deserves. Fun House is the ideal document of the Stooges at their raw, sweaty, howling peak, and this expanded edition only adds to the album's glorious fury."

Get it here, before it most likely gets taken down.

D.C. Record Fair - "almost summertime edition" - 23 May / rambling

2010-05-02T11:37:00.000-04:00

Dunno how many of you all are in the D.C. area, but yo, if you are, you HAVE to go to this Record Fair.

I don't feel like re-writing the details of the whole thing, so here's the facebook post.

This blogging thing was looking kinda like it was going to end soon, but standing in line with a hundred other people to get into a record store, talking about new releases and such...well to put it shortly, it rekindled my interest in this blog thing. Well, that, and the closure of one of my favourite blogs, Radiobutt Music. The final post there was depressing, and made me want to continue a blog in the wake of Blogger crucially shutting these down. An excerpt from RBM's last post:

"..There is much more to life than music. There is much more to music than pop music...Music takes away our precious time from thinking, reading, and living a real life. At a certain point one should decide to stop entertaining oneself to death..."

So yeah, I'm going to try to do this when I can. There will be periods of no posts, but the second I listen to or rediscover something special, I'll make sure to let ya'll know.

But I digress. Back to this record fair.

I'm gonna go. I couldn't get too much crate-digging done on Record Store Day, as everything I wanted had already sold out (e.g. Gorillaz' "White Flag" single, some Exile on Main Street-era 'Stones demo or something, etc; at least I got the pink vinyl reissue of Sonic Youth's EVOL).

If you're going, leave a comment or somethin'. Maybe we could meet up, trade mix cds or something.

My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise (1987)

2010-04-30T15:37:00.004-04:00

hprill's review on Rate Your Music (4.5/5):

"Perfect.

If MBV ever released a collection of songs that doesn't even carry an ounce of pretentiousness in it, this is it; this is as straight as MBV ever were. The five tracks on this EP aren't artsy, dreamy or shoegazey; they are great pop music without all the bubblegum and the polish.

Everything is as tight as it can get. The title track is urgent, powerful and noisy; "Slow" is, well, slow and heavy on the bass. "Thorn" surprises with acoustic guitars and a post-Smiths attitude that other British bands must have envied well into the early 1990s.

Don't expect anything like Loveless -- there are no blobs of sound on this album, even though traces of the band's future sound are noticeable. But here the drums are still pounding, the lyrics still understandable, and the songs are compact and don't flow (or float) around the room.

As fantastic as British indie pop ever got in the late 80s."

Or, you can go with my review on the same site (5/5, though I'd give it a 6/5 if I could):

"Amazing that in this transitional period the band managed to release the most cogent and concise work in their œuvre. The songs come on, whoosh past you; ephemeral.

Now time to start hunting for this on vinyl."

Get it here.

R.I.P. Guru / Gang Starr - Hard to Earn (1994)

2010-04-28T08:44:00.005-04:00

As some, most, all, or none of you may know, Guru, the legendary MC of Gang Starr (whose albums have been posted before; younger readers may know him as 8-ball in GTA III) passed away last week from multiple myeloma. He was 48.

I'm not going to go into the circus surrounding his death, or how his new producer, Solar, most likely penned a letter slamming DJ Premier. You can google all this yourself, and I'd like to just let the music speak for itself.

Here's allmusic's review (4/5):

"Gang Starr came out hard on their 1994 album, Hard to Earn, an album notably different from its two predecessors: Step in the Arena (1991) and Daily Operation (1992). While those two classic albums garnered tremendous praise for their thoughtful lyrics and jazzy beats, Hard to Earn seems much more reactionary, especially its lyrics. Guru opens the album with a tough, dismissive spoken-word intro: "Yo, all you kids want to get on and sh*t/Just remember this/This sh*t ain't easy/If you ain't got it, you ain't got it, motherf*cker." While this sense of superiority is undoubtedly a long-running convention of not just East Coast rap but rap in general, you don't expect to hear it coming from Gang Starr, particularly with such a bitter tone. Yet this attitude pervades throughout Hard to Earn. Songs such as "Suckas Need Bodyguards" and "Mass Appeal" take aim at unnamed peers, and other songs such as "ALONGWAYTOGO" similarly center on "whack crews." The best moments on Hard to Earn aren't these songs but instead "Code of the Streets" and "Tonz 'O' Gunz," two songs where Guru offers the type of social commentary that made Gang Starr so admirable in the first place. Yet, even though Hard to Earn is a bit short on such thoughtful moments, instead weighed down a bit with harsh attitude, it does offer some of DJ Premier's best productions ever. He's clearly at -- or, at least, near -- his best here. There isn't a song on the album that's a throwaway, and even the interludes are stunning. Given the subtly bitter tone of this album, it perhaps wasn't surprising then that Guru and Premier took some time to pursue solo opportunities after Hard to Earn. You can sense the duo's frustration with the rap scene circa 1994. The two didn't return with another Gang Starr album until four years later when they dropped Moment of Truth, a succinct comeback album that reaffirmed their status as one of New York's most thoughtful and artistic rap acts."

Get it here. And while you're at it, get the following:

Step in the Arena (1991)
Daily Operation (1992)

Here's Preemo's official statement on Guru's passing:

IT WAS A SAD DAY FOR ME TO GET CONFIRMATION ON THE DEATH OF A MAN WHO I WILL CONTINUE TO CALL MY BROTHER, KEITH ELAM, BETTER KNOWN AS GURU OF THE LEGENDARY GANG STARR.

FROM 1988-2004, WE EXPERIENCED SO MUCH SUCCESS TOGETHER THAT WE WERE ABLE TO EXPAND OUR BUSINESSES INDEPENDENTLY AND GIVE EACH OTHER WHAT GURU CALLED “CREATIVE SPACE”, BEFORE PLANNING TO REUNITE FOR OUR 7TH LP WHEN THE TIME WAS RIGHT. TRAGICALLY, WE WILL NEVER REACH THAT DAY.

I’VE BEEN ASKED TO COMMENT ON A LETTER SPEAKING ILL OF ME WHICH WAS SUPPOSEDLY WRITTEN BY GURU IN HIS DYING DAYS. ALL I WILL SAY ABOUT IT IS THAT OUR TIME TOGETHER WAS BEAUTIFUL, WE BUILT A HIP HOP LEGACY TOGETHER, AND NO ONE CAN RE-WRITE HISTORY OR TAKE AWAY MY LOVE FOR HIM. ONE THING I WOULD NEVER DO IS PLAY AROUND WITH THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS LIFE.

I WILL CELEBRATE GURU’S LIFE… I WILL HONOR HIS MEMORY… I WILL GRIEVE WITH THE ELAM FAMILY OVER HIS UNTIMELY DEATH… I WILL REMEMBER THE GANG STARR FOUNDATION AND ALL OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF GANG STARR WHO CAME BEFORE ME – WE ALL KNOW EACH OTHER… MOSTLY, I WILL CHERISH EVERYTHING WE CREATED TOGETHER AS GANG STARR, FOREVER. I’M GONNA MISS HEARING HIS SIGNATURE MONOTONE VOICE WHEN HE WALKS IN THE ROOM, BUT THE SONGS WILL ALWAYS BRING IT BACK TO ME….HIS RHYME FLOWS WERE INSANE, AND I WILL NEVER REMOVE HIM FROM MY HEART AND SOUL…….REST IN PEACE TO THE MAN WHO FELT “SATISFACTION FROM THE STREET CROWD REACTION” … I LOVE YOU GOO…….DJ PREMIER

GY!BE - F♯A♯∞ [1995–1997]

2010-04-18T21:19:00.003-04:00

This is the original version of the album. Two tracks, ripped from vinyl. Just give it a listen. If I had to stress one word while listening to this album, it'd be "patience". And man, if you do any psychedelic/dissociative drugs, this is a GREAT album to trip to (well, at least SWIM says so).

"the car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel
and the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides
and a dark wind blows
the government is corrupt
and we're on so many drugs
with the radio on and the curtains drawn

we're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
and the machine is bleeding to death

the sun has fallen down
and the billboards are all leering
and the flags are all dead at the top of their poles

it went like this: ...
the buildings tumbled in on themselves
mothers clutching babies picked through the rubble
and pulled out their hair

the skyline was beautiful on fire
all twisted metal stretching upwards
everything washed in a thin orange haze

i said: "kiss me, you're beautiful -
these are truly the last days"

you grabbed my hand and we fell into it
like a daydream or a fever

we woke up one morning and fell a little further down -
for sure it's the valley of death

i open up my wallet
and it's full of blood"

Get it here.

Crystal Castles - Celestica EP (2010) and Doe Deer

2010-04-17T20:32:00.007-04:00

SICK. I can already tell the new album is gonna be awesome. This has gotten me on a pretty bad CC binge.

COMMENT IF YOU WANT THIS/ the album

Beach House - Teen Dream (2010)

2010-04-16T19:11:00.003-04:00

Believe the hype when I tell you this is one of the best releases so far in 2010. Beach house’s Teen Dream is just one of those albums that sound good at first listen. I was quite skeptical when I heard this was a great album considering their other releases have been kind of lacking imo. When it comes down to it, a lot of the songs are just catchy as hell and have substance as well. It’s a very layered sound, so you are going to have to give it a couple of listens to analyze all the sounds. At the same time you can listen to this without really thinking and truly take pleasure in it. Give it a download and enjoy it on these fine spring days.

Download

Chiddy Bang - Air Swell (2010)

2010-04-09T22:53:00.003-04:00

Two words: Hipster Hip-Hop. Really Good. Its pretty much some dude who raps over indie samples by such artists like the gorillaz, kate nash, and hot chip. Its mad word. The production on this is top-notch and these are guys to look for, Download this, I don't care if you don't like hip hop, you'll find something you'll like about this.

Download

Surock - Remix EP (2010)

2010-04-09T03:17:00.004-04:00

D.C Hip-Hop producer, Surock, is a rising young producer set out to change the game. I have personally listened to his beats, and they are very good. He uses gritty samples in his beats, and picks up influences from Madlib, and J dilla with a more commercial sound. Anyways its a really good EP and I recommend a download... a personal favorite is Politics as it has a west coast, new orlands kinda jazzy feel. Alot of his beats have no awkward chorus arrangements, and the remixes fit in very well.

Download

An apology

2010-04-03T15:40:00.002-04:00

As if anyone reads this.

Well, I apologize for the lack of posts lately. My job leaves me too tired to post anything, and the clinical depression robs me of what little energy I have on my days off.

I thought my friend(s) would be helping out on this blog, but I suppose I was wrong. You know what they say: if you want something done right, do it yourself (or, as I like to say: don't ever depend on other people, as they'll only let you down time after time).

Maybe there will be a post in the future. I dunno. As of right now, I just don't have the time/motivation/etc. to do it.

I mean, what's the incentive, really? People have dl'ed over a terabyte of music, and have left probably a grand total of 30 comments over the past 1+ years.

get it before it gets taken down

2010-03-01T07:20:00.003-05:00

I just checked my mediafire account and saw that you guys have downloaded over 1TB of music. This is a thank you for the milestone.

Leaked today I think. It's good. surprisingly modern, with a lot of unexpected guests (wtf Lou Reed). The title track, "On Melancholy Hill," "Some Kind of Nature," "Rhinestone Eyes," "Empire Ants," and "Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach" are highlights. The rest of the album is good too, with few filler tracks. I'd give it a 8.9/10. Form your own opinion before rushing to Pitchfork.

get it here in 320kbps (quickly, before it gets deleted)

If you guys want something in particular...

2010-02-14T16:54:00.002-05:00

Just give me a call, leave a message with what you would like to see on the blog, and I will make it my personal duty to get it to you asap.

Sunny Day Real Estate - The Rising Tide (2000)

2010-01-29T14:37:00.004-05:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Described by Jerermy Enigk as a "wake-up call," Sunny Day Real Estate's fourth album (and their first for Time Bomb) The Rising Tide presents the most accomplished version of their gripping, anthemic sound yet. Appropriate to its title, The Rising Tide comes in sweeps and swells, ranging from searching, uncompromising rock like "Killed By an Angel" and "One" to gentle, beautiful ballads like "Rain Song" and even pop-tinged songs like "Television," which sounds a bit like a more propulsive version of the Police's early '80s singles. Though the album was recorded with a trio lineup (Jeremy Enigk, Dan Hoerner, and William Goldsmith), it's some of the band's fullest-sounding work, rich with strings and keyboard flourishes that add extra depth to the shimmering, Eastern-inspired drones of "Fool in the Photograph" and "Faces in Disguise." Lou Giordano's production gives The Rising Tide an unabashedly big, clean sound that frames Sunny Day's detailed songwriting and arrangements perfectly, giving the restrained, reflective "Tearing in My Heart" and "The Ocean" as much impact as driven tracks like "Snibe" and "Disappear." Best of all is the title track, which blends a beautiful melody, heartfelt vocals, and an insistent rhythm into a sweeping, affecting finale. Expansive and complex without compromising the band's focused, impassioned style, The Rising Tide is one of Sunny Day Real Estate's -- and 2000's -- most impressive albums."

Get it here.

Also:
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary (1994)
Sunny Day Real Estate - How It Feels to Be Something On (1998)

B l o n d e R e d h e a d - M e l o d y o f C e r t a i n D a m a g e d L e m o n s (2000)

2009-12-09T03:37:00.002-05:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"For a record produced by Guy Picciotto (Fugazi, Rites of Spring), Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons is a surprisingly quiet affair. Rarely do the cuts on Blonde Redhead's 2000 release get much louder than an electric guitar. With their fifth record, Blonde Redhead finally emerges from the shadows of Sonic Youth's post-punk legacy by avoiding the expected detunings, distortions, and shrillness of the genre. The three-piece manages to create a record that is subtle, tuneful, and sublime. On "Loved Despite of Great Faults," instrumentation mainly consists of acoustic guitar, piano, and percussion rather than an assault of power chords, yet the mood of the song is just as effective. While the record may be quieter, it still manages to move in several different directions. "This Is Not" tips its hat to Ric Ocasek with a new wave-inspired piece while the opening cut, "Equally Damaged," and "Ballad of Lemons" suggest an influence from Danny Elfman. Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons may not accurately reflect the full body of Blonde Redhead's work, yet it presents an easy place to start."

Get it here.

Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971)

2009-12-06T15:37:00.001-05:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"You don't need to speak a word of French to understand Histoire de Melody Nelson — one needs only to look at the front cover (with its nearly pornographic portrait of a half-naked nymphet clutching a rag doll) or hear the lechery virtually dripping from Serge Gainsbourg's sleazily seductive voice to realize that this is the record your mother always warned you about, a masterpiece of perversion and corruption. A concept record exploring the story of — and Gainsbourg's lust for — the titular teen heroine, Histoire de Melody Nelson is arguably his most coherent and perfectly realized studio album, with the lush arrangements which characterize the majority of his work often mixed here with funky rhythm lines which underscore the musky allure of the music. Perhaps best described as a dirty old bastard's attempt to make his own R&B love-man's record along the lines of a Let's Get It On (itself still two years away from release), it's by turns fascinating and repellent, hilarious and grim, but never dull — which, in Gainsbourg's world, would be the ultimate (and quite possibly the only) sin."

Get it here.

Also:
Serge Gainsbourg - N°2 (1959)
Serge Gainsbourg - L'étonnant Serge Gainsbourg (1961)
Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg (1969)
Serge Gainsbourg - L'Homme à Tête de Chou (1976)

David Bowie Megapost (1976-1979)

2009-12-04T13:37:00.001-05:00

God, what artist/band can ever compare to Bowie's creative output in the 70s?

Station to Station (1976)

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Taking the detached plastic soul of Young Americans to an elegant, robotic extreme, Station to Station is a transitional album that creates its own distinctive style. Abandoning any pretense of being a soulman, yet keeping rhythmic elements of soul, David Bowie positions himself as a cold, clinical crooner and explores a variety of styles. Everything from epic ballads and disco to synthesized avant pop is present on Station to Station, but what ties it together is Bowie's cocaine-induced paranoia and detached musical persona. At its heart, Station to Station is an avant-garde art-rock album, most explicitly on "TVC 15" and the epic sprawl of the title track, but also on the cool crooning of "Wild Is the Wind" and "Word on a Wing," as well as the disco stylings of "Golden Years." It's not an easy album to warm to, but its epic structure and clinical sound were an impressive, individualistic achievement, as well as a style that would prove enormously influential on post-punk."

Get it here.

Low (1977)

From allmusic (5/5):

"Following through with the avant-garde inclinations of Station to Station, yet explicitly breaking with David Bowie's past, Low is a dense, challenging album that confirmed his place at rock's cutting edge. Driven by dissonant synthesizers and electronics, Low is divided between brief, angular songs and atmospheric instrumentals. Throughout the record's first half, the guitars are jagged and the synthesizers drone with a menacing robotic pulse, while Bowie's vocals are unnaturally layered and overdubbed. During the instrumental half, the electronics turn cool, which is a relief after the intensity of the preceding avant pop. Half the credit for Low's success goes to Brian Eno, who explored similar ambient territory on his own releases. Eno functioned as a conduit for Bowie's ideas, and in turn Bowie made the experimentalism of not only Eno but of the German synth group Kraftwerk and the post-punk group Wire respectable, if not quite mainstream. Though a handful of the vocal pieces on Low are accessible — "Sound and Vision" has a shimmering guitar hook, and "Be My Wife" subverts soul structure in a surprisingly catchy fashion — the record is defiantly experimental and dense with detail, providing a new direction for the avant-garde in rock & roll."

Get it here.

"Heroes" (1977)

From allmusic (5/5):

"Repeating the formula of Low's half-vocal/half-instrumental structure, Heroes develops and strengthens the sonic innovations David Bowie and Brian Eno explored on their first collaboration. The vocal songs are fuller, boasting harder rhythms and deeper layers of sound. Much of the harder-edged sound of Heroes is due to Robert Fripp's guitar, which provides a muscular foundation for the electronics, especially on the relatively conventional rock songs. Similarly, the instrumentals on Heroes are more detailed, this time showing a more explicit debt to German synth pop and European experimental rock. Essentially, the difference between Low and Heroes lies in the details, but the record is equally challenging and groundbreaking."

Get it here.

Lodger (1979)

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"On the surface, Lodger is the most accessible of the three Berlin-era records David Bowie made with Brian Eno, simply because there are no instrumentals and there are a handful of concise pop songs. Nevertheless, Lodger is still gnarled and twisted avant pop; what makes it different is how it incorporates such experimental tendencies into genuine songs, something that Low and Heroes purposely avoided. "D.J.," "Look Back in Anger," and "Boys Keep Swinging" have strong melodic hooks that are subverted and strengthened by the layered, dissonant productions, while the remainder of the record is divided between similarly effective avant pop and ambient instrumentals. Lodger has an edgier, more minimalistic bent than its two predecessors, which makes it more accessible for rock fans, as well as giving it a more immediate, emotional impact. It might not stretch the boundaries of rock like Low and Heroes, but it arguably utilizes those ideas in a more effective fashion."

Get it here.

V a n S h e - EP (2005) & V (2008)

2009-11-26T16:37:00.000-05:00

Brian B's review on Amazon (5/5):

"Like fellow Aussie Dance Rockers Cut Copy, Van She craft their full-bodied rock-dance sound to maximum effect on their debut self-titled EP. VS was released on the rising Aussie dance label Modular, which is also home to Cut Copy, The Presets and New Young Pony Club. Van She lean more towards the rock side of the spectrum while utilizing synths and a sequencer. However, their songs are a dance-rock hybrid that sizzle and pop with club energy, and new wave influence. "Kelly" was the first single released. Very much reminescent of 80's dance pop, with synth-driven melody, and poppy lyrics, this sounds like something M83 might put out. The second single -"Sex City" is a dark, driving dancefloor standout that pulses with heavy dance beats and flashy synths, packing an incredible punch. "Survive" is another solid song that flirts with rock song conventions before veering off into glittery, dancefloor territory. The instrumental reprise of Kelly feels like an interlude. "Here With You" surges with floating layers of electronica and echoing vocals; this is a great conterpoint to their other songs, adding variety to their solid contribution. Van She show amazing potential on their debut EP."

David James Young's review on SputnikMusic (3.5/5):

"If you’ve ever seen a picture of Australian band Van She, you’ll appreciate the difficulty of actually taking them seriously. Decked out in the kind of clothes even Rick Astley would have cringed at in his heyday, they pushed this even further on their debut EP, a ghastly tribute to Countdown glory days where the only thing cheesier than the synth lines were the lyrics themselves.
Three years after that, however, it’s an almost entirely different story. They are still undeniably fashion victims, yet the music has taken a significantly sharp turn in the right direction. V is energetic, ambitious and versatile; a snapshot of, and subsequent soundtrack to, Australian city nightlife. You will certainly enter the record doubtful, but the band makes every effort to keep you entertained throughout the 45 minutes you spend with them.

It is hard to pin down Van She to a certain sound on V. Some elements to each of the songs are consistent throughout. Vocalist Nick Routledge’s breezy pop harmonies immediately come to mind; so too does the confident, distinctive backbeat, provided by drummer Tomek Archer. The musical environments that said elements are surrounded by, however, vary significantly throughout. The layered, dynamic build-ups of lead single “Cat and the Eye” and closing number “A Sharp Knife” find the band at their catchiest, with assertive big hooks and a near-perfect mix of both natural and synthesized sounds.
V juxtaposes this with straightforward rollicking grooves, such as the spaced-out funk of “It Could Be the Same” and the buzzing alternative rock of album highlight “The Sea”, packed with an impressive drum beat and distorted electro guitar. “Virgin Suicide” provides further contrast from its peers on the record by stripping the sound back to lush acoustic guitar and a dreamy shoegaze backdrop- in turn proving to be one of the stronger cuts from the album.
Even when the band’s past comes to haunt them in the form of their first-ever single “Kelly” from back in 2005, the band flesh out the song in a very stylish re-recording that is just as retro-sounding as before, yet does not sound as forced and artificial as it once did. It’s certainly miles away from the song that Phil Jamieson of Grinspoon once described as “the one song I never want to hear again”.

Perhaps it is not the variety of sounds that are found on V that are its best asset, but how well Van She pull it all off. Given, the songs are at times a little too refined and tightly structured, occasionally restricting the band from going the distance. However, when the band present you with a potential hit (“Cat and the Eye”, “Strangers” and “Changes”), the charm and appeal of them is practically irresistible. Despite a few average tracks along the way (the irritating filler of “Temps Mort” and the lagging Tears for Fears tribute “Sunbeams”), some below average lyricism (Both apple and orange juice are mentioned somewhere in “Changes”) and the keyboards occasionally going into overkill (granted they’re a synth-pop band, but it wouldn’t kill them to have the guitar up a little louder), the band don’t drop the ball once here.

There appears to be new-found purpose to what Van She are doing. With a handful of high-octane numbers that could well garner a new legion of fans, Van She are out to impress and prove all of their past critics wrong. Many bands are afraid to make the next step into trying new things and fulfilling their potential as musicians and songwriters. V, however, is the sound of a band that is willing to take that step."

Hurry up and get both here while you can.

Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema (2008)

2009-11-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

Tyler Fisher's review on SputnikMusic (4.5/5):

"Instrumental hip-hop, a form of hip-hop that almost goes against the very basis of the genre (in essence, rhythmic poetry), makes the artist's job both harder and easier to create a timeless album in the realm of hip-hop. While the instrumental nature of the music allows for music much more melodic, it often completely leaves the hip-hop category without the correct beats, labeled better simply as electronica. Blue Sky Black Death's Late Night Cinema, the first album for the production duo to not feature any emcees throughout the album, strikes the balance between the necessary melodicism and hip-hop beats perfectly, making a stunning and enthralling album from start to finish.

With this balance, many will mark the album's primary influence as Endtroducing..., but besides both albums' incredible melodic composition, these albums have little in common. Beneath that veneer, Late Night Cinema breathes much more as a whole rather than a collection of samples – largely because many of the parts on the album were recorded live. Instead of a plunderphonic album, Blue Sky Black Death, comprised of producers Kingston and Young God, composed a true musical entity with violinists, vocalists, trumpeters, and keyboardists adding their contributions while still keeping it in the vein of hip-hop.

In terms of production, the album has that decidedly hip-hop feel, a groove completely different from neo-classical electronica, a realm that the album's melodic content takes much inspiration from. For example, the breakbeats in “My Work Will Be Done” envision an ensemble where Venetian Snares provides the background accompaniment rather than the main material. Throughout the whole album, hip-hop cliches are abound in the beats – from the actual drum sounds to the rhythm of the grooves to the fills that transition between parts. Even some of the synth melodies, such as the ones that begin “Forgive Me”, recall modern hip-hop.

What really makes Late Night Cinema stand out, however, is the way these two aspects blend for an incredible, enveloping sound that even Endtroducing... could not accomplish for more than a few tracks. The album is dense and packed with material, which is both its greatest strength and its greatest (perhaps only) flaw – at some points the listener doesn't know where to listen. Kingston and Young God know exactly where they stand, however, and each song has enough natural harmonic motion to complete itself, a remarkable feat especially for the lengthier cuts in the beginning of the album. They almost always return to a main theme and link everything together masterfully. Opener “The Era When We Sang” achieves all of this brilliantly, reaching a climax that is capitalized by a catchy trumpet melody that brings a new sense of regality to the sound with its fanfare-like rhythm. Where “The Era When We Sang” delivers its progression harmonically, “A Private Death” does so rhythmically, progressively becoming more intense with more breakbeats and rapid bass drum kicks. The frenetic string sample, which provides the song's main melodic theme, helps advance this nature in the melodic spectrum.

On first glance, it may seem that the duo placed their longest, strongest songs at the beginning of the album to give a powerful first impression that wows the listener until the album's end, thus hiding some of its flaws in the lesser tracks. And after “A Private Death”, it seems impossible that the album will continue its road of excellence. While nothing bests the first four songs (also the four longest), the album suffers from no major drop in quality. “Listen Child” offers relative repose from the constant swirling of melodic material with a simpler format, though still very evolved in comparison to other artists. “Different Hours” uses all its different sounds brilliantly, from the soaring violin to the constant undercurrent of the organ chords, perhaps the most soulful song on the album. Moment for moment, the album never falters, but what makes songs like “The Era When We Sang” and “Ghosts Among Men” stand out is the scope of the composition, the way it weaves so many threads together and remains cohesive.

Those threads extend to tie together the entire album, as it all falls inside an umbrella sound that makes Blue Sky Black Death unlike any other artist around right now. Their combined melodicism and appreciation for hip-hop cliché make an album at first accessible and still worth listen after listen after listen. And, for once, I find myself not going back to Endtroducing... to get this album, but better. Late Night Cinema is a beast of its own kind. While they have detailed their future as one of collabaroations with emcees, something they have done twice in the past with Wu-Tang affiliates Holocaust (Warcloud) and Razah, this is a duo that can stand on their own two feet and are best when not suppressed."

bmlarson's review on Rate Your Music (4.5/5):

"What BSBD have accomplished here is so much bigger than an instrumental hip-hop album. It's some kind of post-rock electro-hop frankenstein that is indescribably, paralyzingly beautiful. Throughout the 11 tracks, I heard shades of Shadow and Blockhead sure, but also Burial, M83, Godspeed!, Diplo, and Explosions in the Sky. It's that dense, that diverse, and that epic.

Every layer, every bar seems crafted in a way that reaches IDM-like levels of OCD and perfectionism - the architecture of each piece expansive yet balanced. Listening to where songs like "The Era When We Sang" and "Forgive Me" begin compared to where they end is amazing - NO other hip-hop producers have that kind of confidence in their ability to shift the mood within a track...absolutely groundbreaking. Luxurious in its sonic depth but rewarding in its compositional complexity, this is the music I would make if I was a lot better at making music. It is simultaneously the most organic and the most sophisticated hip-hop album I've ever heard, and I cannot recommend it highly enough"

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Katy Perry - MTV Unplugged (2009)

2009-11-20T02:44:00.002-05:00

Before I start getting heckled, I just had to clarify that, yes this is Katy Perry, and that her unplugged was brilliant. I am speaking on a completely objective basis (although I fucking love her as a pop star anyways), but this performance affirms my belief that Katy Perry is a decent singer-songwriter, and more importantly, a musician. First off, I absolutely loved the way how all her soulless mega pop hit songs are arranged in an intimate acoustic manner. Everything seems to be on point, the guitar, the bass, the drums, to a certain extent; it is a very professional yet raw sound. I believe that presentation is everything in music, and Katy Perry presents 7 songs, and they are an extremely enjoyable listen. “I Kissed a Girl” jazz style never sounded so damn good.

Another important thing was her voice. I feel as if Katy Perry has finally found her place, as her voice sounds absolutely fantastic in this small intimate setting. So don’t give me that bullshit that she can’t sing, because she sounds soulful.

Either way, if she could move her career to doing shows like these, I’d be down.

Stream Katy Perry’s Unplugged performance

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Tarwater - Animals, Suns & Atoms (2000)

2009-11-18T21:16:00.003-05:00

An album with sentimental value if anything. I remember buying this album high with my friend Nick and Steve, my friend/ other writer on this blog. It was tossed in among the other shitty used CD’s that haven’t seen the light of day. Anyways we played this and took a cruise around town, and to say the least, it’s a very decent album. The sound is mellow, and very reminiscent of The Notwist, and Department of Eagles, and maybe, just maybe a small pinch of Portishead with the use of samples and/or sampling, repeating motifs within songs . In case you haven’t heard of Tarwater (Which I wouldn’t be surprised), they are a German duo who play post rock music.It may sound a bit dated because of the types of sounds the German duo uses at times but nevertheless, it’s a decent album for smoking if anything. Calm, smooth, relaxing listen.

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Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg (1969)

2009-11-16T14:37:00.002-05:00

nlm1984's review on RYM (4.5/5):

"As I was playing this album just last night, my mother asked me the name of the title track, the first cut. I told her "Je t'aime... Moi, Non Plus" or, loosely translated, "I Love You... Nor Do I." She gave me the crook eye and asked, "Wasn't that a banned song?!" "Why yes, it was," I replied. That song raised the ire of The Vatican. Well, I must say that my mother surprised me. I had no clue she knew one Gainsbourg song.

Now, to the album itself. As the majority of this album was recorded a Londres, it carries an aire of its time. It's very charming!

The classic title track: Fantastic arrangement for being a C-F-G chord song. I, personally, love the organ and string arrangement. His version with Bridgitte Bardot is all the more better, as it's mix is re-structured with the orchestra in the fore. "Je vais et je viens/ entre te riens" I go and I come/ between your kidneys.

Speaking of organs, L'anamour or Non-love, features some of the best sounding Hammond B-3 organ ever recorded.

The guitar on this album is nice an clean, manipulated only on occasion by a stray wah-wah peddle. This effect is found in the precious Orang-Outan. J'aime ma poupeé orang-outan! En anglais, I love my toy monkey. This monkey is featured on the album cover of L'histoire de Melody Nelson. This monkey is also one of the sources of Jane's tears in the song Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je M'en Vais from 1973.

Soixent-neuf, Anneé Erotique is another stand-out. '69 the erotic year. Serge always loved his play of words. Just use your imagination as to what that means. This cut also features a delightful arrangement; bass-driven, orchestra, vibes, peddled-out piano.

Les Sucettes, features a very English arrangement. Written for France Gall in '65, Serge reclaims this suggestive work. Great!

This album is a masterpiece. This is an album that should be owned by everyone, yet thankfully isn't. If you can appreciate this, consider yourself lucky."

Get it here.

Also:
Serge Gainsbourg - N°2 (1959)
Serge Gainsbourg - L'étonnant Serge Gainsbourg (1961)
Serge Gainsbourg - L'Homme à Tête de Chou (1976)

The Antlers - Hospice (2009)

2009-11-11T13:14:00.002-05:00

This album has been poping up everywhere from Pitchfork to Blogs, and I am not really into hipster bullshit, but this album lives up to the hype its been getting. The album is about a true story about the lead singer's daughter dying of bone cancer. Its an incredibly sad album, in the sense that every lyric has meaning. The way they blend this story together with the music is heartbreaking, and if you don't feel anything listening to this....you may not have a heart. Nevertheless, every good album should touch you on an emotional level and the antlers did it with Hospice. No Hype, all good.

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Deltron 3030 (2000)

2009-11-03T11:37:00.003-05:00

Dolemic's review on RYM (5/5):

"Deltron 3030 is a concept album about an Orwellian future where a giant conglomerate has taken over the world and homogenized our lives, jobs, music, etc. Two heroes have stepped forward to battle our oppressors: Deltron Zero and the Automator. On another level, Deltron 3030 is a concept album about right now where a corporate structure has taken over the music industry and homogenized our hip-hop. Two artists have stepped forward to battle trite, radio-ready rap music: MC Del the Funkee Homosapien and producer Dan the Automator (with DJ Kid Koala along for the ride).

The former concept doesn't really hold water to close scrutiny, as Del's lyrics are designed more to dazzle with acrobatic wordplay and a barrage of pop culture references than to spin a cohesive yarn. Of course, that doesn't mean that it isn't a load of fun. In dizzying fashion, Del spits verses about "Ghost in the Shell", Silver Surfer, the Decepticons, "The Matrix", Neo-Tokyo, Micro Machines, Final Fantasy and Optimus Prime. And that's in the first two songs. To claim that Deltron 3030 is somewhat "nerdy" would not be unfair. Again, that doesn't mean that it isn't a load of fun.

As far as the latter concept, it is sadly very true, both now and when the album was released. In similar fashion to his efforts on Dr. Octagonecologyst, Dan is purely brilliant in his crafting of sonic landscapes for his counterpart to play in. Unlike the aforementioned album, however, he now has a partner who is equally talented in his respective craft. Del delivers his gonzo rhymes with precision and intensity. Together they create a magnificent sci-fi epic with a great sense of humor. Del's crazy lyrics would sound out of place over a Timbaland or Kanye West beat, for example, in much the same way that a generic rhyme about hustling or fashion would never make sense over the cinematic production of the Dan the Automator. Throw in the superb and tasteful scratching of Kid Koala and you understand why this album has become the cult classic it has.

Although Deltron 3030 is meant to be taken as a whole, with skits interspersed between each song, certain tracks do stand out. "3030" is sweeping and grandiose, like a John Williams score. "Turbulence" boasts the darkest, scariest hip-hop production since Dr. Octo. Nowhere do the talents of the three chief collaborators culminate in such a beautiful fashion as on the tremendous "Madness". The best song on the album is also one of the best in hip-hop history.

Deltron 3030 is a fearless, uncompromising and sprawling masterpiece. It doesn't surprise me that it hasn't garnered a lot of attention in the casual hip-hop community. None of these artists have ever made any attempt to market themselves to a mainstream audience. That's not a compliment or a fault, just a fact. Regardless, any fan of any type of music should find this album enthralling and worthy of their time. There really isn't anything else out there that sounds like this. Of course, it doesn't hurt to be a little nerdy yourself."

Get it here.

BONUS

Trust me on this one: get this. The beats are amazing. Like, you know the beats are gold when you can listen to them alone and you enjoy it as much (if not more) than the parent album. I give this a 6/5. See if you can freestyle over the beat to "3030".

Get it here.

The Long Blondes - Singles (2008)

2009-11-02T14:37:00.001-05:00

The BBC's review:

"Far more glamorous than your average indie band, there was a time when it looked like The Long Blondes were going to make it big. NME and Radio 1 loved them, three singles from Somebody To Drive You Home' went top 40, and Once & Never Again was the soundtrack to every indie disco. Then came Couples; album number 2; and everything seemed to unfairly dry up.

So, presumably to renew some interest, the band are going back to basics with Singles - a compilation of their first four 7"s released on small labels like Thee Sheffield Phonograpic Corp, Angular and Good & Evil, and thus essential only for your most die-hard fan.

Like so many Sheffield bands before them, Kate Jackson and her fellow scarf wearing pals make intelligent indie music with some of the wittiest lyrics in town. Now we hear them at their rawest form, before the likes of super producer Erol Alkan got hold of them and added unnecessary whizzes and bangs.

The very first releases New Idols and Long Blonde are, in fact, so rough and ready that the distortion hurts your ears. But Autonomy Boy soon presents their delicious melodies that we that made us love them so, with the original versions of the complicated Giddy Stratospheres and Lust In The Movies a definite highlight. On the flip side, the shoutier riot grrl side of the Long Blondes blasts through on tale of heartbreak Separated By Motorways.

Distinctly English with tales of Peterborough and darts, The Long Blondes should be a national treasure. Despite having lost their way, this compilation shows that going back to basics isn't perhaps the step backwards it might seem."

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Sunny Day Real Estate - How It Feels to Be Something On (1998)

2009-11-01T14:37:00.001-05:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"The cryptically titled How It Feels to Be Something On was the first fruit of Sunny Day Real Estate's reunion, and it simultaneously smoothed out their sound while shifting it into something altogether more ambitious. Always somewhat arty and challenging to begin with, SDRE flirts with out-and-out prog rock here, cleaning up the production to reveal the contrasting layers in their ever more intricate arrangements. There's a droning, almost Middle Eastern feel to some of the songs, pointing up Jeremy Enigk's newfound taste for spiritual mysticism (though the mantra-like chanting on "The Prophet" comes off a little awkwardly). Enigk has matured greatly as a vocalist, applying lessons learned from his solo project; gone is the strangled roar he frequently used on Diary, but even while confirming his softer bent, he's reined in the swooning, bordering-on-fey excess of LP2. Similarly, the band's musicianship keeps getting sharper, handling the twisting chord progressions with an easy grace that keeps the songs flowing smoothly into one another. Almost too smoothly, in fact -- if the album has a flaw, it's that the climactic peaks don't seem to scale quite the same heights as on the band's other albums. That's a minor complaint, to be sure, but perhaps that's why How It Feels to Be Something On can feel at times like a dry run for the magnificently perfected The Rising Tide, where Enigk's piercing falsetto really hits its stride and where the band's songwriting fulfills their every anthemic ambition. But that's only in hindsight; taken on its own terms, How It Feels to Be Something On is a remarkable step forward from a band that seemed destined to leave its full potential untapped."

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LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (2005)

2009-10-30T16:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"If a music-nerd version of Animal House set in 2005 is ever made, "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" -- the boisterous opener of LCD Soundsystem -- would make an ideal theme song for the fraternity on which it is based. The self-conscious, awkward music obsessives pledging into this fraternity would have to pass a complex trivia test, own a compulsory list of records, and, as a hazing ritual, ask to dance with someone in public. If LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy were the least bit open to the concept, he could be the fraternity's advisor. Judging from a handful of singles and this album, he'd be more than qualified. His first A-side, 2002's "Losing My Edge," laid all his cards on the table, name-checking nearly everything that has been branded indispensable by a record store clerk during the past 20 years. This is someone who clearly owns tons of records and cannot escape them when making his own music. Acid house, post-punk, garage rock, psychedelic pop, and at least a dozen other things factor into his songs, and he's not afraid to be obvious. On occasion, he doesn't even allow fellow nerds to play guessing games. This is the case with "Never As Tired As When I'm Waking Up" -- drowsy/dazed John Lennon vibes through and through -- as well as the drifting/uplifting "The Great Release" -- an alternate closer to either of Brian Eno's first two solo records. Otherwise, Murphy's songs cough up references from his subconscious or are put together as if he's thinking more like a DJ, finding ways to combine elements from disparate sources. "Movement" careens into high-energy guitar squall after a pounding beat and cranky synths; "On Repeat" happily replicates the scratches and jabs of guitar heard from A Certain Ratio, PiL, and Gang of Four, but its mechanical pulse and curveball synth effects couldn't be any more distanced from those three groups. Nothing here exceeds the brilliance of "Beat Connection" or "Yeah." Like just about everybody else these days, Murphy's more skilled at creating isolated tracks than making full-lengths, even though this particular full-length has few weak spots and unfolds smoothly as you listen to it from beginning to end. The bonus disc, containing all the stray single tracks, adds a great deal of value."

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Coming back bearing gifts

2009-10-30T15:48:00.007-04:00

Oh No, brother of Madlib, is back after coming out with Dr. No's Oxperiment which has the most crucial use of Turkish & Lebanese Psyche samples. Now he has done it again with Ethiopium which has...you guessed it, all Ethiopian samples.

It finally came out and to say the least, it is amazing... download quickly, stones throw takes down these things quickly. Sorry for the delay of posts, school has been a bitch, who would have thought taking 3 spanish lit classes would be a shitload of work. I am back for weekly album reviews.

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Portishead - Portishead (1997)

2009-10-29T15:37:00.003-04:00

Once upon a time, there were multiple bloggers here. One of my cohorts (that has since vanished into the ether) previously posted Portishead's debut and new album. So, with this you'll have all the Portishead you need (since I'd recommend the DVD version of Roseland NYC Live over the CD version).

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Portishead's debut album, Dummy, popularized trip-hop, making its slow, narcotic rhythms, hypnotic samples, and film noir production commonplace among sophisticated, self-consciously "mature" pop fans. The group recoiled from such widespread acclaim and influence, taking three years to deliver its eponymous second album. On the surface, Portishead isn't all that dissimilar from Dummy, but its haunting, foreboding sonic textures make it clear that the group isn't interested in the crossover success of such fellow travelers as Sneaker Pimps. Upon repeated plays, the subtle differences between the two albums become clear. Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley recorded original music that they later sampled for the backing tracks on the album, giving the record a hazy, dreamlike quality that shares many of the same signatures of Dummy, but is darker and more adventurous. Beth Gibbons has taken the opportunity to play up her tortured diva role to the hilt, emoting wildly over the tracks. Her voice is electronically phased on most of the tracks, adding layers to the claustrophobic menace of the music. The sonics on Portishead would make it an impressive follow-up, but what seals its success is the remarkable songwriting. Throughout the album, the group crafts impeccable modern-day torch songs, from the frightening, repetitive "Cowboys" to the horn-punctuated "All Mine," which justify the detailed, engrossing production. The end result is an album that reveals more with each listen and becomes more captivating and haunting each time it's played."

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Keith Hudson - Flesh of My Skin, Blood of My Blood (1975)

2009-10-28T16:37:00.000-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Producer Keith Hudson notched up his first hit in 1968 with Ken Boothe's "Old Fashioned Way." Many more followed in its wake, excellent vocal numbers, sizzling DJ cuts, and extraordinary instrumentals all found favor with the public. What were receiving less notice, however, were Hudson's own self-productions, and in 1974, the singing producer decided to shift his attention from producing others to producing himself. Relocating to London, Hudson set to work recording; the result later that year was the Flesh of My Skin Blood of My Blood album. It proved particularly popular in the London sound systems, as did the following year's Torch of Freedom, resulting in his signing to the Virgin label, suggesting they hadn't listened closely to either set. Although Flesh of My Skin is an extraordinary album, even at its most accessible, it's filled with slight quirks that preclude any hope of mass market success. The lavish "Treasures of the World," sweet lover's rock with notable crossover appeal, is a prime example; its lushness and sweeping melody foiled by a slightly too-insistent-for-its-time reggae rhythm and pattering hand drums. The even more extravagant "No Friend of Mine" could have been a chart-topping ballad in other hands, but is similarly undone by the percussion, disconnected synth, downbeat lyrics, and Hudson's own vocal limitations. Those numbers at least showed potential, but his cover of "I Shall Be Released" sounds like a bad night at a karaoke bar. So much for Hudson's forays into the pop world. In reality what was stirring up the reggae scene were his brilliant excursions into roots realms never before explored. The artist first planted his flag in this new territory with his inspired, smoldering, 1971 single "Darkest Night on a Wet Looking Road," which slides from dread roots straight into Delta blues. Hudson included the single, under a truncated title on this set, while the stunning then-new instrumental "Hunting" delves even deeper into the sounds of the Deep South, brilliantly weaving blues together with dread roots, nyahbinghi rhythms, and even a touch of funk. "Talk Some Sense (Gamma Ray)" and the instrumental "My Nocturne" are further fabulous forays into the blues, ones that would finally reach an apotheosis on Hudson's 1978 Rasta Communication album.The title tracks, spread across a vocal cut and an accompanying instrumental version, beautifully intertwines R&B, pop, and roots reggae. "Stabilizer" meanders across even more genres, blurring the lines between C&W, blues, R&B, and reggae, across an inspired version of Hudson's own 1972 single "True True True to My Heart." For "Stabilizer," Hudson and his backing group the Soul Syndicate Band deftly connect the dots between genres, while "Testing of My Faith" erases them, cleverly twinning C&W with roots reggae. The song is faintly reminiscent of the theme to "Midnight Cowboy," assuming Jon Voight disembarked not in the Big Apple, but Trench Town. In which case, "Fight Your Revolution" sends "Shaft" era Isaac Hayes on a Greyhound bus to Memphis. The music on this set is so astounding that it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture of Hudson's dramatic lyrical themes and the album's overarching concept of the black experience and history. On "Faith," he pleads to "be just like any other man," but if his prayer was granted, the world would have lost one of its most unique artists even sooner."

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DJ Shadow - Preemptive Strike (1998)

2009-10-27T16:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"DJ Shadow assembled the singles collection Preemptive Strike as a way for American audiences to catch up on his career prior to his debut album, Endtroducing. The 11-track album contains three new interludes and three complete singles that he released on Mo'Wax -- "In/Flux," "What Does Your Soul Look Like," and "High Noon" -- and a bonus disc, "Camel Bobsled Race," which is a megamix of DJ Shadow material by DJ Q-Bert. Given that Endtroducing was a masterpiece of subtly shifting texture, Preemptive Strike almost seems purposely incoherent, even though the tracks are sequenced chronologically. The jerky flow can make the album a little difficult to assimilate on first listen, but it soon begins to make sense, even if it never achieves the graceful flow of the album. Several of the selections on Preemptive Strike were available in different forms on Endtroducing -- parts four and one of "What Does Your Soul Look Like" are in their original forms here, presented along with one and three, and there's the "extended overhaul" of "Organ Donor." All of these are significantly different than the LP versions, and "What Does Your Soul Look Like" is necessary in its original, half-hour, four-part incarnation. But the key moments are the seminal "In/Flux," which arguably created trip-hop, and "High Noon," the dynamic, fuzz-drenched single that was his first single release since Endtroducing. Those three A-sides are reason enough for any serious fan of the debut to pick up Preemptive Strike, but the B-sides and "Camel Bobsled Race" are equally intriguing, making the package a nice summation of DJ Shadow's most important singles through the end of 1997."

Get it here.

Also:
DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist - Brainfreeze (1999)

Cranes - Loved (1994)

2009-10-26T16:37:00.005-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"On the band's third major album, Cranes found themselves balancing more immediate accessibility with its own particular musical obsessions like never before. If nothing on the album was as immediately harrowing as much of the band's late-'80s/early-'90s work -- guitars and drums both were generally less forceful and out in front -- Loved was still a mysterious and artistic experience, effortlessly standing aside from prevailing music trends. The band's self-production skills continued to improve, evidenced by the sometimes elaborate arrangements; if the core of Cranes' music revolves around intentionally basic rhythms and melodies repeated as mantras, it's always been the focused delivery that puts everything together. Where things get more conventionally catchy, it's an interesting combination of brute electric power and hooky melody. "Pale Blue Sky" is a good example: A roiling band performance, slightly buried in the mix, kicks out the jams while Alison Shaw's much clearer singing traces a hummable lead melody. It's not power pop, but it's a change nonetheless. Lead single "Shining Road," with its quick, catchy pace, sets the tone for a fair number of the album's cuts like "Reverie" and "Beautiful Friend." If anything, there's something of Siouxsie and the Banshees' early-'80s work coming out in the brisk performances. "Paris and Rome" is the sleeper on the album, appearing towards the end. It's another in the line of beautifully orchestrated numbers like "Adoration" and "Cloudless," building towards a dramatic, evocative ending. Other weirdly pretty numbers include "Are You Gone?" and the piano-led, very Cocteau Twins-styled "In the Night." Three remixes appear on the American version of the album as bonus tracks. Two, Michael Brauer's take on "Shining Road" and Flood's revamp of "Lilies," come from the Shining Road EP, while the third is new, with Flood remixing "Paris and Rome.""

Get it here.

Also:
Cranes - Wings of Joy (1991)
Cranes - Forever (1993)

Saint Etienne - Sound of Water (2000)

2009-10-25T11:37:00.000-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Ten years on, Saint Etienne found themselves at a bit of a crossroads. They had long ago stopped having hits in the U.K., settling into a cult audience in both their homeland and the U.S. There isn't an inherent problem with having a cult audience, but cult bands often have the stigma of being on the cutting edge. At the start of their career, Saint Etienne was on the cutting edge. Their first two albums were at the foundation of many '90s pop trends, including the revival of swinging '60s London, the unabashedly melodic bent of Brit-pop, the fascination for forgotten easy listening artifacts from the '60s, the kaleidoscopic blend of '60s sound and '90s sensibility later heard on Beck records, plus the insurgent twee-pop of the late '90s. For their tenth anniversary, they decided to reclaim the cutting edge with Sound of Water. The album strove to keep the concise, song-oriented focus of Good Humor, while expanding the horizons of their music to focus on abstract, dreamy, electronic sounds. There are moments of pop pleasure here, surrounded by spare, languid electronica sections, vaguely reminiscent of the High Llamas. This is where maturity pays off. Saint Etienne never lingers too long in one area, letting the album flow gracefully between these two extremes and placing some very good pop melodies along the way. There are no knockout singles on par with those from So Tough or Tiger Bay, but Saint Etienne has pretty much given up on the pop charts, preferring to concentrate on cohesive, stronger albums. That may mean that Sound of Water simply isn't as exciting as their earlier work, and it also means that there isn't a good gateway song to the record. But that's OK, since with repeated plays, Sound of Water reveals itself as a first-rate effort."

Get it here.

Also:
Saint Etienne - Good Humour (1998)

Pale Saints - In Ribbons (1992)

2009-10-24T15:37:00.004-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"An argument could be made for In Ribbons topping the Pale Saints' debut, and it would be a rather solid one. Thanks to yet another stellar job by "knob twiddler of the mighty atmospheric pop bands" Hugh Jones, the Pale Saints sound full and polished, gleaming and bright. What makes this a lesser record in comparison to its predecessor is the absence of that loose sense of adventure from before. The songs are strong, the musicianship is improved, and Meriel Barham's presence as second guitarist and vocalist provides for more muscularity, but In Ribbons is missing the slightly perverse sense of experimentation that The Comforts of Madness had in spades. The unpredictability is gone, which is one of the few downsides of a band whose members are getting to know each other musically. That doesn't prevent In Ribbons from being a great record, stacked to the gills with great songs. Barham's sporadic contributions provide a fine spoil to those of Ian Masters. The mid-tempo moodiness of "Thread of Light" benefits from Jones' excellent treatment of her voice, with swooning backgrounds that dart between the left and right channels. (The verses bear odd sonic resemblance to Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer" -- no kidding.) Her reading of Mazzy Star's "Blue Flower" tops the original, and "Baby Maker" also makes the grade with its dizzied liveliness. Masters' love for the abandonment of rock constructs strikes upon a zenith on "Hair Shoes," a drumless cluster of limpidly jousting guitars that simultaneously jiggle, rattle, moan, twinkle, and reverberate. His miasmatic vocals seal the track off as a brilliant approximation of the oceanic wash of 69-era AR Kane. Otherwise, more accessible fare, like the sprightly "Throwing Back the Apple" (a single) and the melancholy epic "Hunted," are also accountable for the record's success. Though these tracks' more traditionally structured material doesn't sound a great deal different from many of the Pale Saints' peers, the wan voice of Masters -- who sounds less world-weary here -- clearly sets this unit apart."

Get it here.

Also:
Pale Saints - The Comforts of Madness (1990)

Trembling Blue Stars - Lips That Taste of Tears (1998)

2009-10-23T14:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Though Trembling Blue Stars' second record, Lips That Taste of Tears, makes some progress toward healing the wrenching heartbreak of Robert Wratton (as documented in great detail on Her Handwriting), the record is basically another monumentally sad and forlorn artifact of one man's despair. As mentioned above, there are some beams of light that shine through the blinds, namely the reappearance of Wratton's former lover (and cause of his despair/inspiration), Anne Mari Davies, who provides vocals on the choral opener, "All I Never Said," the storming house-influenced "Tailspin," the incongruously happy dance-pop tune "The Rainbow," the almost funky trip-hop song "Cecilia in Black and White" (which borrows much from engineer Ian Catt's main gig as Saint Etienne's sound guru). There isn't enough wattage in a light bulb factory to brighten Wratton's mood though as he mopes and moans his way through heartsick ballad after heartsick ballad like "Never Loved You More" (with its refrain of "I'm so far from being over you"), "I'm Tired, I Tried," "You've Done Nothing Wrong Really" ("Sometimes I want to scream/Why did you abandon me?"), and "Farewell to Forever." It could be enough to drive even the happiest camper to thoughts of homicide if it weren't for the flawless balance of wrenching sadness and musical beauty and grace. As on Her Handwriting, Wratton and Catt have again crafted a brilliant-sounding record built on cheap electronics and perfectly utilized guitars and percussion. They are equally skilled at capturing intimate moments of introspection, blissful dance grooves ("The Rainbow"), and soaring indie pop mini-epics ("Made for Each Other"). In fact, the only time their knack fails them is on the repetitive and bland techno instrumental "Old Photographs." Lips That Taste of Tears is an emotionally harrowing and musically near-perfect record, proof that Robert Wratton's heartbreak and misery makes for great art."

Get it here.

Also:
Trembling Blue Stars - Her Handwriting (1996)

DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist - Brainfreeze (1999)

2009-10-22T10:37:00.000-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"The hip-hop mix tape has come so far. As passed down through DJs such as Kid Capri and Funkmaster Flex, it has served essentially the same purpose -- as a compilation of segued-together cuts rather than a stand-alone work itself and, therefore, an archetypal soundtrack to house parties or underground gatherings. But taking its cue instead from Grandmaster Flash, who pioneered the form commercially on his landmark cut classic "The Adventures of Grand Master Flash on the Wheels of Steel," Brainfreeze transforms the mix tape into a genuine piece of musical art, a sampladelic, turntablist collage that may be the apotheosis of -- or at least a turning point for -- the genre. Even prior to the release of the album, the collaboration between Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow had developed an almost legendary buzz. In the fall of 1999, the two kicked off a series of live performances sponsored by San Francisco art collective and record label Future Primitive Sound. Brainfreeze captures for posterity, in two uninterrupted takes, the live DAT rehearsal tapes from the duo's premiere show together, and it is an amazing display of spontaneous music-making. The music splits the difference between the groundbreaking, Brian Eno-worthy soundscapes that have characterized DJ Shadow's solo career and the ebullient, breakbeat-savvy, street-corner jive of old school-style rap, as exemplified by Chemist's crew Jurassic 5. Some of the snippets cut and pasted here will be readily familiar to longtime fans of rap music, and some formed the basis for tracks on Shadow's first two albums, but the majority are from extremely rare and generally forgotten 45s absent from the crates of even the most ardent beat-diggers. The project itself signifies a duality of sacrifice and resurrection. Sacrifice applies because in the act of spinning these premium records the DJs were literally destroying or damaging their rare vinyl. Also, due to the music's improvisational nature, the set could never possibly be repeated in quite the same way. On the other hand, it is a resurrection in that it synthesizes a half-century of soul and funk music that has fallen through mainstream cracks, thereby revealing an entire alternate history of principally black urban music. Unfortunately, the album stops short of being the actual history lesson it might have been, as it fails to list the artists and song credits. Some of the value in uncovering them in the first place is, as a result, nullified. It is a minor blemish, however, when measured against the visionary, forward-looking aura of Brainfreeze. It is a dizzyingly brilliant, virtuoso work of two exceedingly fecund imaginations."

From cravenmonket's review on RYM (4.5/5):

"Imagine the guy in college with the incredible funk and soul record collection setting his stash out in several crates, then inviting a couple of rude white boys over to spin them on four simultaneous turntables, with plenty of frantic scratching thrown in, until these glorious rarities are totally destroyed. Imagine, also, that they managed to incorporate some of the most solid down-tempo beats you've ever heard. Imagine, if you will, that these two styles blended into a one-off, never-to-be-repeated fusion - the greatest funk night out you've ever had in your life - and you are finally coming close to imagining this album. It's pure gold. Sell your car for a copy."

Get it here.

R a i n T r e e C r o w - R a i n T r e e C r o w (1991)

2009-10-21T17:37:00.007-04:00

RHalpain's review on RYM (5/5):

"Rain Tree Crow's lone album is a bit of an oddity. This album came a decade after their final album as Japan (the fantastic Tin Drum) and really sounds absolutely nothing like any of their previous work. From my understanding, David Sylvian dominated the recording of the album (including the name change), and stylistically that shows. Not only that, but the band seemed ready to break up once more (which happened shortly after the album's release, I believe).

Given that, it perplexes me how this album is so damn good. I honestly don't know what the ex-Japan bandmates were trying to do with this album. Even after having listened to this quite a few times over the last 2 years, I'm not really sure what the aim of this album was. I'll be damned, however, if it isn't amazing.

The music on Rain Tree Crow generally lingers in a realm of bizarre cinematic tranquility. Songs like "Scratchings on the Bible Belt" are instrument drenched (woodwind instruments as well as banjos and strange flares of guitar penetrate a predominantly organ and percussion driven track) visions of the reality in which Rain Tree Crow seems to operate, while "Blackwater" is simply the most beautifully concise track ever written by this group.

What baffles me about this album is how peaceful it sounds. While the later Japan albums seemed about achieving a certain sound (assuming Tin Drum was the culmination of their experiments), Rain Tree Crow sounds absolutely natural. It's as if they were passing a stream some day and played exactly what they heard; there's a certain rhythm throughout the album that seems to gently and patiently carry the listener along.

Overall, I would put this, along with Tin Drum as Japan's best albums. As a Sylvian fan, I would rank this only behind his Secrets of the Beehive (probably the album that sounds most like what's on Rain Tree Crow, not to mention my favorite album ever) and Snow Borne Sorrow by Nine Horses (which features Sylvian's brother, and former Japan bandmate, drummer Steve Jansen). If you like Talk Talk, I would highly recommend this."

Get it here.

Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure (1973)

2009-10-20T20:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (5/5):

"On Roxy Music's debut, the tensions between Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry propelled their music to great, unexpected heights, and for most of the group's second album, For Your Pleasure, the band equals, if not surpasses, those expectations. However, there are a handful of moments where those tensions become unbearable, as when Eno wants to move toward texture and Ferry wants to stay in more conventional rock territory; the nine-minute "The Bogus Man" captures such creative tensions perfectly, and it's easy to see why Eno left the group after the album was completed. Still, those differences result in yet another extraordinary record from Roxy Music, one that demonstrates even more clearly than the debut how avant-garde ideas can flourish in a pop setting. This is especially evident in the driving singles "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You," which pulsate with raw energy and jarring melodic structures. Roxy also illuminate the slower numbers, such as the eerie "In Every Dream Home a Heartache," with atonal, shimmering synthesizers, textures that were unexpected and innovative at the time of its release. Similarly, all of For Your Pleasure walks the tightrope between the experimental and the accessible, creating a new vocabulary for rock bands, and one that was exploited heavily in the ensuing decade."

Get it here.

Françoise Hardy - Comment te dire adieu (1968)

2009-10-19T15:37:00.005-04:00

dorotea's review on Rate Your Music (4.5/5):

"Twelve songs, all versions except two composed by herself. ¡But what versions!, wonderful renditions of Phil Och's "There but for fortune", Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne", Jobim's "Sabia"and three hits of pop like the title track "It Hurts to Say Goodbye", "Lonesome town" and "The Way of Love", all of course translated to French language. Still, the best is in home: Gainsbourg's "L'anamour" and the poem of Louis Aragon with music of Georges Brassens "Il n'y a pas d'amour hereux".

Following an extended fashion of late 60's between French artists of recording in London, city of studios and new techniques, the delicious arrangements of Arthur Greenslade, Jean Pierre Sabar, Mike Vickers and John Cameron and the unique voice of Françoise, make of this one of her best albums. Great cover of Jean Paul Goude."

Get it here. And, if anyone can find me Message personnel, her album from 1973, I'd appreciate it (as would the readers of this blog; they seem to love them some Françoise Hardy). Word.

Also:
Françoise Hardy - The Yeh-Yeh Girl From Paris (1965)
Françoise Hardy - Ma jeunesse fout le camp... (1967)
Françoise Hardy - La question (1971)

Shiina Ringo - Karuki Zame Kuri no Hana (2003)

2009-10-17T14:37:00.003-04:00

Zorbo's review on Rate Your Music (5/5):

"I think Ms. Shiina must be a Taoist. Or, if not, at least someone deeply interested in the concepts of opposites, doubles, balance and equality. Everything about this album screams a predilection with it. The title, translating to “Lime, Semen, Chestnut Blossoms”, seems bizarre, but it is a well-crafted one and, by her reckoning, a logical one. She claims that the first and last items both smell like semen and thus the title is a olfactory palindrome. Of sorts. Next, there are the titles themselves. When viewed down the page, the titles of the first and last, second and second-to-last songs, and so on, all have the same number of characters. Even the second song is called Doppelgänger, a German word meaning a person's double.

It is appropriate then that such an album, at first glance overwhelmed with doubling and copying, be so original. It is doubly appropriate that the album's sound be made of opposites. On the one hand, it's the tightest pop album I've ever heard. Not a note or melody is poorly placed. At the same time, it's all over the place. The range of instruments and styles featured on the record is astounding. Why, Ringo herself plays guitar, piano, drums, koto, shamisen, harmonica, harpsichord, and accordion, and let's not get into what her band plays. Lyrically? Well, I don't know, I don't speak Japanese. I have been informed that it uses obscure, obsolete kanji in the lyric sheet that accompanies the CD, which is of course to be expected from such a modern and forward thinking album from someone so obsessed with opposites.

This album, on paper, should not work so well. It shouldn't be so tight and perfectly crafted, but it couldn't be moreso. It sounds like a mash-up of swing, jazz, noise, a capella, rock, pop, folk and even classical, but it doesn't sound cluttered or jumbled in any way – it's wonderfully catchy and addictive, great to sing along to, relax to, or get excited about. It's brash, noisy, funky, experimental, complex, and in-your-face. It's also low-key, calm, accessible, simple and humble. Crafted by a fragile, young soul, and forged by a demonic sexual beast.

I could go on, but frankly, why bother? My point has been made and I'm just hammering it further. This album, at its heart, makes no sense. It's untouchable and innately indescribable. It defies logic, it defies theory, it defies one's prejudices or pre-conceived ideas. It defies belief that you haven't gone looking for it already."

Get it here.

Also:
Shiina Ringo - Shouso Strip (2000)
Tokyo Jihen - Adult (2006)

Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision (1998)

2009-10-16T13:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Consisting of Del tha Funkee Homosapien, A-Plus, Opio, Tajai, Phesto, Casual, Domino, Pep Love, and Jaybiz, Hieroglyphics has an all-star lineup of underground talent. One might expect Hieroglyphics to have a gangsta rap or West Coast rap sound since Del tha Funkee Homosapien is related to the infamous Ice Cube; however, 3rd Eye Vision has a traditional underground rap feel reminiscent of albums by Common and Black Star. The 22-track album features strong, clever lyrics accompanied by creative, catchy background beats. Fortunately, Hieroglyphics manages to avoid the common error of over-sampling beats, which detracts from the lyrics. The hip-hop group also amazingly uses its large size as an advantage with memorable choruses, unique background voices and raps, and great interplay between lyricists. This synergy is future illustrated by the variety of songwriters and tracks like "You Never Know" and "Miles to the Sun" that are a collaboration by six of the group members. The album's standout track is "You Never Know," which was made into a video and single."

Get it here.

The Smiths - Dance With Octopuses (1986 Bootleg)

2009-10-15T15:37:00.001-04:00

Really, it's The Smiths. That's all that needs to be said. This is a very good quality recording, and is probably my favourite Smiths bootleg (if my words mean anything to you). For those who care, I think this is from the 23 October 1986 show at London's National Club. Check out "The Draize Train," an instrumental jam where Johnny Marr really lets loose (the song also appears in a lesser form on Rank). Too bad this blog's namesake wasn't on the setlist; it's a really underrated song in their catalogue. The closing one-two punch of urgent renditions of "How Soon Is Now?" and "Bigmouth Strikes Again" is a real treat.

Of course, I have to give credit where credit is due; if you want Smiths boots, alternate mixes, etc., then you need to check out akiraware. Between the studio albums you should already have and this website, you'll have all the Smiths you need.

Tracklist:

The Queen Is Dead
Panic
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
Ask
Frankly, Mr Shankly
The Boy With the Thorn in His Side
Is It Really So Strange?
London
I Know It's Over
The Draize Train
How Soon Is Now?
Bigmouth Strikes Again

Get it here.

The Submarines - Declare a New State! (2006)

2009-10-14T15:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (3.5/5):

"How better to accurately convey the pain of breaking off a long-term relationship than to write and record songs about it with your ex-significant other? Apparently, Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti couldn't think of a more appropriate way, and what came out of those sessions (which eventually led to their reconciliation and marriage) was Declare a New State!, their first album as the band the Submarines. Needless to say, it's sad, pretty music that finds them reflecting about themselves and where they went wrong, never blaming anyone specifically but never accepting full responsibility, either. Each of them (they sing tracks both together and separately) puts pretty much everything out in the open for everyone to hear ("On Super Tuesday I wanted to die...I'll never vote again," Dragonetti whimpers in "Vote," referencing their breakup, which happened on the eve of the 2004 California presidential primary), leaving little to hide behind. This actually becomes kind of tiresome; it's as if the Submarines don't quite trust their audience to get their not-so-subtle references. In "Brighter Discontent," Hazard sings lines like "I rearranged the place a hundred times today/But the ordering of objects couldn't hide what's missing" and "All these things should make me happy...to be home again," rendering her point quite clear, but as if there were a possibility you might not understand her implications, she throws in a bridge with the phrase "Love is not these belongings that surround me/Though there's meaning in the memories they hold" to really drive things home, a gesture that while perhaps innocent enough, is not necessarily welcome. There are some wonderfully poignant lyrics in Declare a New State! as well ("You got a way with words/Just sentiment without revealing how you feel," Hazard states in the gorgeous "The Good Night") that work well with the gentle guitar arrangements and melodies (which don't so much jump from the record as blend smoothly in with the layers of instrumentation) the band chooses to employ. It's all very nice, but there's not much that sticks when all is said and done, which is the album's biggest problem: its lack of distinctive qualities. It's not boring -- there are still a lot of drums and the occasional indie electronica effect on the record, but it's not going to leave any long-lasting impression, either. The music on Declare a New State! was certainly a useful tool for Dragonetti and Hazard, but it's a little too self-involved to do as much for anyone else."

Get it here.

Mojave 3 - Ask Me Tomorrow (1995)

2009-10-13T11:37:00.003-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"After the spare, delicate power of Slowdive's final album, Pygmalion, with influences like the Durutti Column and Brian Eno readily apparent, it would have made perfect sense for Mojave 3 to continue in that vein. Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell had a much different idea in mind, though, and Ask Me Tomorrow, though even further away from Slowdive's shoegaze beginnings, is just as intoxicatingly intriguing. Arguably it remains the group's high point, flashes of inspiration here and there; as the band grew more straightforwardly authentic and less swathed in an aural cocoon, much of their uniqueness went with them. Here, though, both Goswell and Halstead -- along with drummer Ian McCutcheon (more often than not using brushes), pianist Christopher Andrews, and some guests -- tapped into a drowsy beauty that ran parallel to the burgeoning alt-country movement without completely sounding like it yet. Slowdive's cover of "Some Velvet Morning" is a good reference point -- everything is swathed in echo still, but the emphasis on slide guitar twang and a gently down-home feeling, plus some occasional soft cello, makes the album a hushed masterpiece. Andrews' piano often takes the lead, further emphasizing Mojave 3's own approach, while the Goswell/Halstead vocal combination suggests a cousin to the killer Chris Eckman/Carla Torgeson blend in the Walkabouts. Ask Me Tomorrow starts and ends with its best songs; "Love Songs on the Radio," also the band's debut single, sets the tone perfectly, Goswell's sweet but strong voice and Halstead's guitar in perfect balance. "Mercy," meanwhile, concludes things on a dramatic, powerful note; without completely exploding, it's the most fiery song hands down, with Andrews' steady, doom-laden piano and the ever more strung-out guitar the bed for an at once soothing and warning vocal duet, Goswell and Halstead closing the album with a final a cappella singing sigh."

Get it here.

Also, if anyone can procure me a digital copy of The Best Bootlegs in the World Ever, I will be eternally grateful :3

Serge Gainsbourg - L'étonnant Serge Gainsbourg (1961)

2009-10-12T17:37:00.005-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"As early as 1961, Serge Gainsbourg was one of the most extraordinary artists of the French pop scene, and during the first part of the '60s the crooner produced a series of outrageously brilliant albums with producer/arranger Alain Goraguer. One of his most intoxicating amalgams of jazz and pop styles, L'Etonnant Serge Gainsbourg comes highly recommended to fans of '60s French pop. An utterly essential early document of Serge Gainsbourg while he was still a mildly respectable man -- but that's not say there aren't hints of his notorious decadence in this early work."

Get it here.

Also:
Serge Gainsbourg - N°2 (1959)
Serge Gainsbourg - L'Homme à Tête de Chou (1976)

Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein (2001)

2009-10-12T02:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"While it can be said that many underground crews have been floundering in the gray matter of indie hip-hop, Cannibal Ox filled that area in with 2001's The Cold Vein for El P's Def Jux imprint. The music press had been quick to point out that Vast Aire and Vordul Megilah's attack is at times highly derivative of the Wu Tang Clan, and the point is valid. Thankfully, El P (a serious candidate for producer of the year) lays out some of the most lushly intriguing sounds and beats that feel as herky-jerky as they sound gilded with silk. It's a bit misleading to harp on the Wu factor that The Cold Vein contains since this record's content is immensely original and the Wu references that seem present are in the enlightened gloomy flow and psychedelic backdrops -- not, (with all due respect) in the kitschy hooks and unfocused rhymes that Wu Tang are also known for. Aire and Megilah swirl around in b-boy posturing and obtuse nonsense as their innovation rears its head at every corner with scatter-shot lines like: "And I ain't dealin' with no minimum wage/I'd rather construct rhymes on a minimum page," and "You were a still-born baby, your mother didn't want you but you were still-born." While there's not a throwaway track per se, the album's length does run a bit long (at least they didn't make it into a double CD as a lot of rap acts have been known to do). To their immense credit, Cannibal Ox and El P have assembled one of the most listenable hip-hop albums in far too long. Headz be aware: Independent hip-hop has a new voice and this is your beat fix for 2001."

The second I heard "Raspberry Fields" I was sold:

"If first you don't succeed try, try again
Step up to the mic and die again
This is the next lifetime and you wanna battle
Either you like reincarnation or the smell of carnations
The sample's the flesh and the beat's the skeleton
You got beef but there's worms in your Wellington
I'll put a hole in your skull and extract your gelatin"

How can you not like that shit? Get it here. NOW.

Cocteau Twins - Victorialand (1986)

2009-10-11T14:37:00.005-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"With Raymonde taking a break to work on the second This Mortal Coil album, Fraser and Guthrie made up the Cocteaus for the first full-length follow-up to Treasure. Rather than trying for a full-band approach, Fraser and Guthrie instead created a much more simply beautiful effort, with a relaxed air to it. Rhythms are subtler, with bass and drum machine often totally eschewed in favor of Guthrie's delicate guitar filigrees and lush, produced textures. Fraser is, as always, in wonderfully fine voice; her words are quite indecipherable, but the feelings are no less strong for it. "Lazy Calm" starts things perfectly, as deep, heavily-treated guitar strums combine with a heavy flange and guest saxophone from Dif Juz member Richard Thomas. Other songs sparkle with a lovely vivaciousness. Far from being stereotypical arty music to sit around and be gloomy to, two pieces especially shine with a gentle energy: "Fluffy Tufts," with its many-layered ringing strings and Fraser's overdubbed vocals; and the joyful "Little Spacey," with a soft rhythm underlying more sheer electric loveliness. Guthrie adds heavy reverb and overdubbed lines to create the Cocteaus' wash on such songs as "Throughout the Dark Months of April and May" and "Feet Like Fins," the latter again featuring Thomas, this time on tablas. For all the sweet beauty of Victorialand, things end on a quietly dramatic note, but a dramatic one nonetheless. "The Thinner the Air" starts with treated piano and rather spooky guitar leads -- the mysterious soloing is especially wonderful -- while Fraser then sings with a slightly haunted feeling, concluding with slightly nervous wails. It's an unexpected but effective touch for this fine record."

Get it here.

Also:
Cocteau Twins - The Pink Opaque (1985)

The Lemonheads - Lick (1989)

2009-10-09T02:37:00.004-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Although it's fairly incoherent, bouncing back and forth between punk-pop and folky pop, Lick is a thoroughly engaging record. The tensions between Evan Dando and Ben Deily are fairly evident throughout the album, especially since Dando's songs, with their immediate hooks and melodies, outshine his bandmate's, but that unevenness makes the record endearingly messy. Also, the mess makes the group's best songs, including an inspired electric cover of Suzanne Vega's "Luka," shine all the more brightly."

Get it here.

Annie - Anthonio (2009)

2009-10-08T16:37:00.002-04:00

David Balls' review on Digital Spy (5/5):

"Tastemakers have been calling Annie the "cool Kylie" for years, but her record sales have never matched her critical acclaim. Her 2004 debut Anniemal demonstrated kick-ass lyricism and a sharp ear for a pop hook, but it made little impact, with only 'Chewing Gum' cracking the top 40. After parting ways with her record label last year and gaining the rights to her upcoming album Don't Stop, the Norwegian is making a welcome return with new single 'Anthonio'.

A collaboration with producer Richard X, it contains all the right ingredients to become the anthem of the summer. With a greater Ibiza house influence than her previous material, and perhaps a nod towards the "mournful break-up" style pioneered by Robyn's 'With Every Heartbeat', it tells the tale of a frivolous holiday romance whose impact lingers long after jetting home. "Oh Anthonio, oh Anthonio, there is only one thing I've been trying to say," Annie sings in the closing seconds. "It may come as a surprise, my baby has your eyes". Perfectly demonstrating why Annie has quietly amassed a cult fanbase, this perfect pop nugget deserves a lot better than it's likely to get."

Single of the year, IMO.
Anyway, get it here.

Also:
Annie - Annimal (2004)

The Chameleons - What Does Anything Mean? Basically (1985)

2009-10-07T18:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Easily the high point of the Chameleons' fascination with digital delays, pedals, and making the studio an instrument, the band's second album still is seen by many a fan as being just a little too lost in the production to have the same impact as Script of the Bridge did, despite equally excellent songs. The decision must ultimately be the listener's, but in the end the production argument is much more a quibble than a condemnation -- no matter how you look at it, What Does Anything Mean? Basically proved to be that rarity of sophomore albums, something that at once made the band all the more unique in its sound while avoiding a repetition of earlier work. Ironically, the first track, "Silence, Sea and Sky," turned out to be the least Chameleons-like track ever, being only a two-minute synth intro piece played by Mark Burgess and Dave Fielding. But with the gentle intro to the absolutely wonderful "Perfumed Garden," lyrically one of Burgess' best nostalgic pieces, it rapidly becomes clear exactly which band is doing this. The empathetic fire that infused Burgess' words for songs like "Singing Rule Britannia (While the Walls Close In)," a poetic attack on the Thatcher government, finds itself matched as always by brilliant playing all around. John Lever's command of the drums continues to impress, and Fielding and Reg Smithies remain guitarists par excellence; the searing, sky-bound solo on "Return of the Roughnecks" alone is a treasure. The sublime combination of the rushing "Looking Inwardly" and the soaring, blasting rip "One Flesh," leading into a relaxed instrumental coda, anchors the second side, while "P.S. Goodbye" provides a lovely, melancholic conclusion to an astounding record. CD copies include the 1981 "In Shreds"/"Nostalgia" single as bonus tracks."

Get it here.

Jay-Z - The Purple Album

2009-10-07T14:37:00.004-04:00

Shit, I uploaded this like, six months ago and forgot to upload it. My b.
Basically, this is a mashup of Jay's Black Album, and...wait for it....Prince's Purple Rain. And it works. The version of "Threat" here is waaaay better than the original album version. It's all very well done. I'd give it a 4.57/5. Highly recommended.

Like, give it a chance. None of ya'll are downloading the rap albums I post, so I'm gonna try to get my hip-hop game up. I guess not enough hipsters know 'bout this blog.

Get it here.

EDIT: Sorry that "Threat" is corrupt. Here it is.

Scott Walker - Scott 2 (1968)

2009-10-06T17:16:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Although Walker's second album was his biggest commercial success, actually reaching number one in Britain, it was not his greatest artistic triumph. His taste remains eclectic, encompassing Bacharach/David, Tim Hardin, and of course his main man Jacques Brel (who is covered three times on this album). And his own songwriting efforts hold their own in this esteemed company. "The Girls From the Streets" and "Plastic Palace People" show an uncommonly ambitious lyricist cloaked behind the over-the-top, schmaltzy orchestral arrangements, one more interested in examining the seamy underside of glamour and romance than celebrating its glitter. The Brel tune "Next" must have lifted a few teenage mums' eyebrows with its not-so-hidden hints of homosexuality and abuse. Another Brel tune, "The Girl and the Dogs," is less controversial, but hardly less nasty in its jaded view of romance. Some of the material is not nearly as memorable, however, and the over-the-top show ballad production can get overbearing. The album included his first Top 20 U.K. hit, "Jackie.""

Get it here.

Band of Susans - Love Agenda (1989)

2009-10-05T16:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"While Page Hamilton's work on guitar here is often referenced in stories about Helmet, the fact is that Band of Susans is very much Poss and Stenger's band, and the at-times grotesquely grinding feel of Hamilton's later work is thankfully missing in favor of the more intricate while still powerful music here. The group's second full album is one of those creations of its time which ages well rather than just sounding dated. Though you can easily imagine the band in its particular late-eighties New York context right from the first track, "The Pursuit of Happiness," from the squalling guitars and Poss' just a little bit like Thurston Moore at points vocals, the fact is that this album just plain kicks out the jams, art that is blessedly unafraid to rock. "It's Locked Away" is a killer example of this, centered around a great riff that has much more of an angular, drony sound to it than anything else, but is wedded to a full-on crunch that also has a great groove (one of the Susans' many instrumental secret weapons) to it as well. Poss, who produced the record, mixes his vocals, as well Stenger's occasional backing efforts, fairly deep into the mix throughout the record; rather than being annoying or pointlessly obscure, it just feels right, a good way of letting his voice be another instrument to carry the songs. Perhaps to reference that fact, "Thorn in My Side" and "Sin Embargo" are both instrumentals, and are as great numbers as any of the rest on the album. The CD version contains the band's noted cover of the Rolling Stones' "Child of the Moon," which in its guitar-overdriven way pretty much beats out the entire remake of Exile on Main Street that Pussy Galore did."

Get it here.

Joy Zipper - Joy Zipper (2000)

2009-10-02T16:56:00.005-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Joy Zipper makes a couple of impressions before one has even placed the CD in the disc player. First, the title is intriguingly suggestive of something fun. Next, the CD cover features an evocative picture of a woman dressed in white with a small child, set against the backdrop of a beach. This leaves the listener in a receptive mood for Joy Zipper's debut, a lush mesh of songs that simply hypnotize. Guitarist/vocalist Vincent Cafiso, vocalist/keyboardist Tabitha Tindale, and drummer Charlie Chase create a dense layer of sound, much richer than their small number might suggest. "Booda" begins with a dreamy, back-tracked guitar, falls into a mellow grove, and then is brought to fullness by a lovely, wistful vocal by Tindale. In fact, most of the vocals by Tindale and Cafiso could be described as wistful. The harmony behind the lead vocal on "God" creates the sonic equivalent of floating, as though capturing the fleeting moment before one drifts into sleep. The oddly titled "The Power of Alan Watts" begins with the intriguing lyric "Alan Watts is dead" and then continues as an ode to the philosophy of the guru. There's a doubling of the tempo in the middle of the song, with driving bass and drums that keep the listener alert. Joy Zipper is very much a studio effort. Backing harmonies, bass parts, and guitars have been layered carefully, creating a cohesive sound for the entire album. Each pensive, dreamy song manages to be part of an intrinsic whole without being redundant. This lovely album will appeal to anyone who enjoys beautifully layered pop music."

Get it here.

Also:
Joy Zipper - American Whip (2004)

The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (1993)

2009-09-30T16:37:00.005-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5) :

"The Afghan Whigs' sound was growing larger by the release during the days on Sub Pop, so the fact that Gentlemen turned out the way it did wasn't all that surprising as a result ("cinematic" was certainly the word the band was aiming for, what with credits describing the recording process as being "shot on location" at Ardent Studios). While Gentlemen is no monolith, it is very much of a piece at the start. While "If I Were Going" opens things on a slightly moodier tip, it's the crunch of "Gentlemen," "Be Sweet," and "Debonair" that really stands out, each of which features a tightly wound R&B punch that rocks out as much as it grooves, if not more so. Greg Dulli's lyrics immediately set about the task of emotional self-evisceration at the same time, with lines like "Ladies, let me tell you about myself — I got a dick for a brain" being among the calmer points. The album truly comes into its own with "When We Two Parted," though, as sad countryish guitars chime over a slow crawling rhythm and Dulli's quiet-then-anguished detailing of an exploding relationship. From there on in, things surge from strength to greater strength, sometimes due to the subtlest of touches — the string arrangement on "Fountain and Fairfax" or the unexpected, resigned lead vocal from Scrawl's Marcy Mays on "My Curse," for instance. Other times, it's all the much more upfront, as "What Jail Is Like," with its heartbroken-and-fierce combination of piano, feedback, and drive building to an explosive chorus. Dulli's blend of utter abnegation and masculine swagger may be a crutch, but when everything connects, as it does more often than not on Gentlemen, both he and his band are unstoppable."

Get it here.

Also:
The Afghan Whigs - Congregation (1992)

Galaxie 500 - Copenhagen (1997)

2009-09-28T01:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"A presumably final punctuation mark on Galaxie 500's work, Copenhagen, released in 1997, is actually a recording from the last date of the band's late 1990 European tour, captured for radio broadcast in the Danish capital in front of a vocally appreciative crowd. One main reason to listen in is hearing how the band's studio approach clearly differed from the concert arena -- while Kramer handles the live sound, the cocooning web of reverb familiar from the records isn't present here. As a result, the performances have a more direct approach, Wareham's voice a little more naked, his thoughts on emotional connection, and the oddities of life easier to capture. Yang's bass gains in prominence as well, almost more so than Wareham's guitar at points, while Krukowski as always keeps the beat well, adding subtle flourishes and touches as he goes. All this would be mere technical notation if the performance itself wasn't worthy, though, and that it is. Touring for This Is Our Music as the trio was, the set list is mostly focused on that, though a fine version of "Decomposing Trees" starts things off. Three of the band's favored covers close the set -- Yoko Ono's "Listen, the Snow Is Falling," the Velvet Underground's "Here She Comes Now," and a version of Jonathan Richman's "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste" that provides a great final kick. For all the excellence of the show, one can hear a little more than once in Wareham's soloing what Yang and Krukowski later described as his tendency to play the big rock star toward the end of the band's life. It's not bad work, but the cracks were starting to show. Longtime Galaxie 500 fanatic Byron Coley provides the detailed essay in the booklet, a useful history of the group and its influence."

I've really been feeling this album as of late. It's so hypnotic; before you know it, it's over far too soon.

Anyways, get it here.

Kool Keith - Black Elvis/Lost in Space (1999)

2009-09-24T17:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"After killing off his Dr. Octagon alias and resurrecting himself as an intergalactic Little Richard named Black Elvis (coiffured appropriately), Kool Keith returned in 1999 with his much-anticipated debut for Ruffhouse. Compared to the scatological bombast sprayed all over his First Come, First Served LP (released as Dr. Dooom on his own Funky Ass label earlier that year), Black Elvis/Lost in Space is remarkably tame. And despite jettisoning cohorts the Automator and DJ QBert, the results sound surprisingly similar to the Dr. Octagon album: sparse 808 beats, a few bizarre, faintly menacing organ lines for hooks, and a sample or two the likes of which have never been heard on a Dr. Dre record (like the odd banjo pickings on "Livin' Astro"). Also cropping up are a few of Keith's patented psychedelic nightmares (reminiscent of "Blue Flowers" and "Earth People"), including "Lost in Space," "Rockets on the Battlefield," and "I'm Seein' Robots." For "Supergalactic Lover," Keith injects a bit of stuttered Timbaland funk into the mix, though this tale of sexual prowess is appropriately schizoid. If Black Elvis/Lost in Space doesn't make quite the splash of 1996's Dr. Octagon, it's mostly because there's a distinct sense that Kool Keith is retreading familiar (through incredibly fun) territory. One thing's for sure, DJ QBert's scratching is definitely missed."

Get it here.

Cornershop - When I Was Born for the 7th Time (1997)

2009-09-23T10:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"When I Was Born for the 7th Time is a remarkable leap forward for Cornershop, the place where the group blends all of their diverse influences into a seamless whole. Cornershop uses Indian music as a foundation, finding its droning repetition similar to the trancier elements of electronica, the cut-and-paste collages of hip-hop, and the skeletal melodicism of indie pop. Tying all of these strands together, the band creates a multicultural music that is utterly modern; it is conscious of its heritage, but instead of being enslaved to tradition, it pushes into the future and finds a common ground between different cultures and musics. Like Woman's Gotta Have It, large portions of When I Was Born for the 7th Time are devoted to hypnotic instrumentals, but the music here is funkier and fully realized. Cornershop hits an appealing compromise between detailed arrangements and lo-fi technology. There may be cheap keyboards and drum machines scattered throughout the album, but they are used as sonic texturing, similar to the turntables, synthesizers, samplers, sitars, and guitars that drive the instrumentals punctuating the full-fledged songs. When it chooses, Cornershop can write hooky, immediate pop songs -- "Sleep on the Left Side" and "Brimful of Asha" are wonderful pop singles, and "Good to Be on the Road Back Home" is an impressive, country-tinged tale -- but what makes When I Was Born for the 7th Time such a rich, intoxicating listen is that it balances these melodic tendencies with deceptively complex arrangements, chants, drones, electronic instrumentals, and funky rhythms, resulting in an album that becomes better with each listen."

Get it here.

Also:
Cornershop - Woman's Gotta Have It (1995)

Leoard Cohen - Songs of Love and Hate (1971)

2009-09-22T13:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Songs of Love and Hate is one of Leonard Cohen's most emotionally intense albums — which, given the nature of Cohen's body of work, is no small statement. While the title Songs of Love and Hate sums up the album's themes accurately enough, it's hardly as simple as that description might lead you to expect — in these eight songs, "love" encompasses the physical ("Last Year's Man"), the emotional ("Famous Blue Raincoat"), and the spiritual ("Joan of Arc"), and the contempt in songs like "Dress Rehearsal Rag" and "Avalanche" is the sort of venom that can only come from someone who once cared very deeply. The sound of the album is clean and uncluttered, and for the most part the music stays out of the way of the lyrics, which dominate the songs. Thankfully, Cohen had grown noticeably as a singer since his first two albums, and if he hardly boasts a range to rival Roy Orbison here, he is able to bring out the subtleties of "Joan of Arc" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" in a way his previous work would not have led you to expect. And while Bob Johnston's production is spare, it's spare with a purpose, letting Cohen's voice and guitar tell their stories and using other musicians for intelligent, emotionally resonant punctuation (Paul Buckmaster's unobtrusive string arrangements and the use of a children's chorus are especially inspired). And Songs of Love and Hate captured Cohen in one of his finest hours as a songwriter, and the best selections (especially "Famous Blue Raincoat," "Joan of Arc," and "Love Calls You by Your Name") rank with the most satisfying work of his career. If Songs of Love and Hate isn't Cohen's best album, it comes close enough to be essential to anyone interested in his work."

Get it here.

Drive Like Jehu - Drive Like Jehu (1991)

2009-09-21T15:37:00.003-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Pitchfork was a fine enough band, but whatever happened between those days and the launch of Drive Like Jehu made the newer group a quantum leap forward, as this gripping album demonstrates. Starting with the deceptively calm then ripping "Caress," Drive Like Jehu lives up to the Biblical reference of the group's name by feeling like a heaven-sent storm taking everything along with it at 200 mph. The Rick Froberg/John Reis guitar team sound like they've been dipped in battery acid, wired to a power station, and let absolutely loose, screaming, nervous riffs piled on top of each other and taking off for Mars. Froberg's own wild scream singing suits it perfectly, sounding like something's about to give and leave nothing in its wake. The concluding chorus to "Spikes to You" is a call-and-response from hell, his strangled wail sounding like a last desperate cry for help, while "Good Luck In Jail" sounds even more like something from beyond a violent, horrifying wall of sound. Reis helps out himself every so often, with equally fierce results -- "Step on Chameleon" practically burns with threat both vocally and musically, Froberg's additional interjections on the chorus even more unsettling while the weirdly beautiful mid-song break takes things to an even higher level. Meanwhile, the Mike Kennedy/Mark Trombino rhythm section know when to cut out and when to go full out, throwing in a bunch of tempo shifts and changes per song without sounding like wanky prog rock wannabes. Everything is done in the service of intensity and emotion, winding everything up to explode and then explode again, as with the heart-in-throat shuddering start to "If It Kills You." Even the group's quietest moments loom with threat, sometimes just needing Kennedy's bass or a soft hum of feedback, as on the start of "O Pencil Sharp," to make the point."

Get it here.

Pale Saints - The Comforts of Madness (1990)

2009-09-20T12:37:00.003-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"When thinking of the finest dream pop records from the early '90s, The Comforts of Madness tends to get lost in the shuffle. Frequently and unfortunately, the Pale Saints were disregarded as just another part of the 4AD sound, lacking distinction and relying on the clichés of the time. Though they might have (arguably) fallen into those traps later in their brief career, their debut really does stick out from the remainder of the 4AD roster as well as the remainder of the then-current scene. The touchstones -- Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Galaxie 500 -- are somewhat apparent, but their debut is certifiably unique. Noise and melody duke it out, but in an arrestingly off-kilter fashion. Comforts is really as much of a "quirk-out" as it is a "bliss-out," experimental in many ways and apparently so from the beginning of "Way the World Is." The noisy rattling eventually gives way to wobbly bass and tunefully violent Wedding Present-like strumming, whipping up a tempestuous haze of frenzied pop. Throughout the record, the trio throws in countless tempo curveballs (with no sense of pomposity) and effectively balances the blasting chuggers with levitational banks of piled-on guitarscapes. The somewhat thin production lent by John Fryer and Gil Norton (on separate sessions) actually serves Comforts well, though it may take a few listens to settle in. The somewhat trebly, un-anchored production is properly suited for Ian Masters' boyish vocals, which sound like they're just on the brink of pubescence. His vocals are just as important to this record as Graeme Naysmith's guitars, not vanishing into the gobs of guitars like your typical shoegaze. "Sight of You" (retooled from their debut EP) is the centerpeice, a lovelorn gem that sounds vaguely like the lost track to Psychocandy. In whole, this debut remains a brilliant example of insular, adventurous, and charmingly flawed noise pop."

Get it here.

Codeine - Frigid Stars (1990)

2009-09-19T14:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"The cover of Frigid Stars sets the mood well -- a negative black and white shot of some stars, looking even more haunting as a result. As for the album, the tone isn't simply being cold or unemotional, but simply gripped by a deep black mood, where everything seems on the verge of suddenly going wrong or collapsing. There's actually a cryptic warmth in the slow tempos and feedback produced from the deliberate strumming and chords from John Engle and Chris Brokaw's guitars. It isn't the narcotic hush of Low -- there's actually a little more relative energy than that! -- or sludgy stoner rock à la Black Sabbath, but something else entirely. Bassist Stephen Immerwahr's vocals lend to that feeling, softly ruminative, sometimes straining, but never sounding self-important or whining (though sometimes the lyrics are creepily macabre -- check out the start of "Cave-In"). If one lets oneself go for the album's general feel, then it all flows together to make a touching, surprising experience, but those seeking variety aren't likely to be happy. It avoids sounding repetitious by virtue of the dynamics -- treat the entire album as an extended mood piece, and it works well. Engle's lead guitar work throws in enough heartbreakingly strong moments to help -- the sudden low swoop on "Pickup Song" is a standout, while the dark, forbidding drones on "Second Chance" are truly chilling. An interesting cover surfaces a few songs in -- "New Year's" (co-written by Bitch Magnet singer Sooyoung Park but not recorded by him until the first Seam album, Headsparks, two years later). Codeine here sound a touch cleaner than elsewhere on Frigid Stars, where the guitars can really sprawl when needed, but Brokaw's drumming and Immerwahr's great delivery mark it out as their version instead of merely a straightforward remake."

Get it here.

Kylie Minogue - Impossible Princess (1997)

2009-09-18T15:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"By 1997, much of the pop music landscape had changed. The music papers were declaring the "Techno Revolution" was on, Oasis and Manic Street Preachers were ruling the charts, and simple dance-pop seemed to be the domain of teenage girls. So what does the dance-pop diva of the '90s do? She recruits Manic Street Preachers' James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore, and Nicky Wire, starts writing unaided, and completely changes musical direction. Enter Kylie Minogue's Impossible Princess (the title was changed to Kylie Minogue after the death of Princess Diana). From the trippy cover art to the abundance of guitars and experimental vocal tracks, this was her "great leap forward." The move got her in the papers, but, unfortunately, critical acclaim was lacking (and so were sales). Critics called it a mistake, and the public was less than impressed. Which is sad, because this is a pretty damn good record. Unlike her early work, this album sounds stronger and has a more natural feel. Her songwriting abilities have come a long way, and Impossible Princess actually flows together as an album. Worth another look."

Get it here.

Throwing Muses - The Real Ramona (1991)

2009-09-17T18:37:00.004-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"The Real Ramona marked the perfect balance of Throwing Muses' angular songwriting and latent pop tendencies. Where Hunkpapa tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to mix these elements, this album succeeds with surreal pop songs like "Counting Backwards" and "Red Shoes." They're catchy and riveting, clearly linked to the band's early material yet more focused and accessible. "Graffiti" and "Two-Step" are two of Kristin Hersh's most appealing pop snippets, but dark, uncompromising tracks like "Say Goodbye," "Ellen West," and "Hook in Her Head" reaffirm that she can still write troubling, fascinating songs like nobody else. And just before she left the Muses to form Belly, Tanya Donelly finally arrived as a full-fledged songwriter with the giddy, gleeful "Not Too Soon" and "Honeychain," proving that she could be a charming foil to Hersh's more challenging style. Their final album as a quartet, The Real Ramona highlights the best points of the group's sound, making it a great starting point for new Throwing Muses fans."

Get it here.

Also:
Throwing Muses - Throwing Muses (1986)

Catherine Wheel - Ferment (1992)

2009-09-16T11:37:00.004-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Centered around re-recorded versions of four songs from the band's two Wilde Club singles and the seven minute lovelorn "Black Metallic" - which was referred to as the "Like a Hurricane" of the ‘90s - the deeply rich Ferment firmly established Catherine Wheel amongst the shoegaze contingent of the early ‘90s. The band would proceed to denounce the shoegaze tag, but it was a fitting one, at least with everything they released prior to 1993's harder edged Chrome. Along with bands like Lush, Ride, and Slowdive, Catherine Wheel buried their sing-along melodies in wafts of distortion and blurry production values. Rob Dickinson had yet to find comfort as a lead singer, so his somewhat fey and dazed emoting blended perfectly with Tim Friese-Greene's comfy production. A fair amount of the bands thrown into the same category as Catherine Wheel were criticized for lacking knowledge of their instruments, but a couple listens to Ferment should prove that they were hardly amateurish. The employment of numerous guitar pedals didn't serve as a smoke-and-mirrors ruse, and Friese-Greene knew enough to allow room for bassist Dave Hawes and drummer Neil Sims to flex their able muscles. Dickinson and lead guitarist Brian Futter were immensely skilled and complementary to each other from the band's inception; certainly they were one of the most unrecognized guitar duos of their stylistic brethren. Like all fine debuts, Ferment is varied emotionally, ranging from lust ("I Want to Touch You") to bliss ("Shallow" and "Salt"). It's a record that makes you want to crawl inside its sleeve and remain. It's as welcoming as it is insular and sheltered."

Get it here.

Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See (1993)

2009-09-15T11:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Thanks to the fluke hit "Fade Into You" -- one of the better beneficiaries of alt-rock's radio prominence in the early '90s, a gentle descent of a lead melody accompanied by piano, a steady beat, and above all else, Hope Sandoval's lovely lead vocal -- Mazzy Star's second album became something of a commercial success. All without changing much at all from where the band was before -- David Roback oversaw all the production, the core emphasis remained a nexus point between country, folk, psych, and classic rock all shrouded in mystery, and Sandoval's trademark drowsy drawl remained swathed in echo. But grand as She Hangs Brightly was, So Tonight That I Might See remains the group's undisputed high point, mixing in plenty of variety among its tracks without losing sight of what made the group so special to begin with. Though many songs work with full arrangements like "Fade Into You," a thick but never once overpowering combination, two heavily stripped-down songs demonstrate in different ways how Mazzy Star makes a virtue out of simplicity. "Mary of Silence" is an organ-led slow shuffle that easily ranks with the best of the Doors, strung-out and captivating all at once, Sandoval's singing and Roback's careful acid soloing perfect foils. "Wasted," meanwhile, revisits a classic blues riff slowed down to near-soporific levels, but the snarling crunch of Roback's guitar works wonders against Sandoval's vocals, a careful balance that holds. If there's a left-field standout, then unquestionably it's "Five String Serenade." A cover of an Arthur Lee song -- for once not a Love-era number, but a then-recent effort -- Roback's delicate acoustic guitar effortlessly brings out its simple beauty. Tambourine and violin add just enough to the arrangement here and there, and Sandoval's calm singing makes for the icing on the cake."

Get it here.

The Postmarks - By the Numbers (2008)

2009-09-14T11:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (3/5):

"In 2008, the Postmarks released a new song digitally every month, each song being a cover version of a tune featuring a number in the title that corresponded to the number of the month -- a pretty good idea to fight off the blahs of a tanking music industry and the rigors of recording an album all at once. The songs were all collected and released in November under the title By-the-Numbers. While many of the songs the group selected to cover are intriguing (Ride's "OX4" and the Ramones' "7-11"), inspired (the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Nine Million Rainy Days"), or totally left-field (the Ventures' "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"), many are also somewhat obvious (the Bond theme "You Only Live Twice," Jobim's "One Note Samba"), ill-suited for the group (the Byrds' "Eight Miles High," David Bowie's "Five Years"), or just plain wrong (Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds"). Luckily, the band treats each song, even the less interesting ones, with a great deal of care and sympathy, wrapping them in warm clouds of reverb and gentle instrumentation that capture the autumnal melancholic beauty that their first album had. Tim Yehezkely's vocals prove up to the task of interpreting each song wonderfully as well (save the version of "Five Years," which just wasn't made for hushed reflection); she gives the sad songs a bucketload of pathos and keeps things somewhat breezy on the more lighthearted tracks. Some songs work better than others, mainly the ones that seem like strange picks. Their take on "OX4" strips away the epic nature of Ride's original and gets to the core of the song's intrinsic loneliness. (Oddly enough, the song ends up sounding more like the Cure than the version of the Cure's "Six Different Ways" the band attempts later.) Also defying expectations are the sprightly girl group-inspired "7-11" that comes complete with Spector-ized percussion, a surprisingly rocking version of Blondie's "11:59," and a totally surprising overhaul of "Eight Miles High" that turns the song into a Morricone-esque epic. Apart from a couple fumbles, By-the-Numbers turns out to be a successfully executed concept and a very pleasant listen. A proper follow-up with original compositions would have been preferable, but as holding patterns go, this one is just fine."

Get it here.

Gang of Four - Solid Gold (1981)

2009-09-13T13:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"Gang of Four's existence had as much to do with Slave and Chic as it did the Sex Pistols and the Stooges, which is something Solid Gold demonstrates more than Entertainment! Any smartypants can point out the irony of a band on Warner Bros. railing against systematic tools of control disguised as entertainment media, but Gang of Four were more observational than condescending. True, Jon King and Andy Gill might have been hooting and hollering in a semiviolent and discordant fashion, but they were saying "think about it" more than "you lot are a bunch of mindless puppets." Abrasiveness was a means to grab the listener, and it worked. Reciting Solid Gold's lyrics on a local neighborhood corner might get a couple interested souls to pay attention. It isn't poetry, and it's no fun; most within earshot would just continue power-walking or tune out while buffing the SUV. Solid Gold has that unholy racket going on beneath the lyrics, an unlikely mutation of catchiness and atonality that made ears perk and (oddly) posteriors shake. With its slightly ironic title, Solid Gold is more rhythmically grounded than the fractured nature of Entertainment!, a politically charged, more Teutonic take on funk. It's a form of release for paranoid accountants. Financial concerns form the basis of the subject matter; the hilarious but realistic "Cheeseburger" is a highlight with its thinly veiled snipe at America: "No classes in the U.S.A./Improve yourself, the choice is yours/Work at your job and make good pay/Make friends, great/Buy them a beer!" This is a nickel less spectacular than the debut, but owning one and not the other would be criminal."

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Erkin Koray - Erkin Koray 2 (1976)

2009-09-12T11:37:00.002-04:00

From ignatius' review on RYM (4.5/5):

"This is my favorite Erkin Koray album, thanks to full, baroque arrangements and solid tunes. Here Koray comes across as something like a Turkish Scott Walker, a strong singer steeped in larger-than-life hypnotic melancholia, backed by terse, dizzying strings and some other Turkish instrumentation such as saz and other typical Anatolian percussive aspects, but the richness of the tunes and the blending of east/west pop approaches conquers all. Clearly, he's one of Turkey's biggest rock stars ever. Superb work."

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Also:
Erkin Koray - Erkin Koray (1973)
Erkin Koray - Elektronik Türküler (1974)

The Rosebuds - The Rosebuds Make Out (2003)

2009-09-11T17:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"The Rosebuds are a hook-laden, energetic indie group from North Carolina plucked right out of Merge's backyard. Their debut long-player, The Rosebuds Make Out, is a strong and memorable record that sounds fresh on repeated listens. The disc is split between up-tempo rockers and weepy ballads. The rockers are what reach out and grab you on initial listens. Tracks like the goofy "My Downtown Friends," "What Can I Do?," and the buoyant "Kicks in the Schoolyard" are pop songs with sharp-as-roses hooks. Ivan Howard has a perfect rock voice, elastic and sharp, able to carry the tunes easily and with verve. For the most part the instrumentation on the record is spare, with guitars leading the way, but the occasional use of big, clunky, unironic synths make ballads like "Wishes for Kisses" and "Back to Boston" sound like a cross between the Cure and the Anniversary. Which is not a sound too many bands have these days. You can also hear bits of the Pixies, Yo La Tengo, and an old-school Merge band, Spent, in there too; all bands that combine energy with melody and end up right square in classic indie rockville. The only track that lets the side down a bit is the last track on the record, the overly long and repetitive "Make Out Song." Despite that minor hiccup, Merge has really picked a winner here; The Rosebuds Make Out is a sweet smelling bunch of songs by a very promising new band."

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Metric - Live it Out (2005)

2009-09-10T07:37:00.007-04:00

From allmusic (3.5/5):

"In an effort to prove Metric frontwoman Emily Haines was not the only dominating personality behind the Canadian indie rock group's first album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, the second album hammers home the fact that it's more of a group effort. Production duties were handed to guitarist James Shaw and Haines' trademark synths take a back seat to screeching guitars and more cohesive playing as a quartet. Despite the added punk rock punch the guitar gives, the bite of their debut is dulled by a weaker set of songs, with only minor aesthetic changes to mask the slight sophomoric slump. Live It Out desires to be a major step forward (Emily Haines would release her first solo album, Knives Don't Have Your Back, a year later), but the best moments on the album are the ones that recapture what made the debut such a compelling piece of '80s retro -- showcasing Haines' trademark keyboards and her effective cooing vocals, which manage to sound both cloyingly sexy and gutturally raw at the same time. "Poster of a Girl" transforms a few rudimentary French lyrics and an unassuming keyboard intro into a spacy, groovy dance track. "The Police and the Private" is an effectively simple and haunting keyboard-heavy song that shows Haines' best vocal performances are the down to earth ones (something she thankfully discovered on her solo album). As with Old World Underground, Haines has a tendency for collegiate-level prose when the band gets political, and songs like the "Combat Baby" knockoff "Handshakes" have a smug, elitist attitude about them, without providing much insight into their political beliefs. The first single, the hooky "Monster Hospital," is a light-hearted punk song with great non-sequitur lyrics, but the overdubbed guitars and big production typically reserved for an alternative rock album don't fight the overall motif of Live It Out. There's a reason Haines was featured on the cover of Old World Underground and it's possibly this: she's what separates Metric from other '80s revivalist groups."

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Guru - Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 (1993)

2009-09-09T16:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Though it can reasonably be argued that rap grew almost directly out of funk and its particular beat, there are a lot of overlaps with jazz, particularly the bop and post-bop eras: the uninhibited expression, the depiction of urban life, just to name two. Jazz samples have also had a large role in hip-hop, but the idea of rapping over actual live jazz wasn't truly fully realized until Gang Starr MC Guru created and released the first in his Jazzmatazz series in 1993, with guest musicians who included saxophonist Branford Marsalis (who had previously collaborated with DJ Premier and Guru for the track "Jazz Thing" on the Mo' Better Blues soundtrack), trumpeter Donald Byrd, vibraphonist Roy Ayers, guitarist Ronny Jordan, and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith, as well as vocalist N'Dea Davenport (also of the acid jazz group the Brand New Heavies) and French rapper MC Solaar. While Guru's rhymes can occasionally be a little weak ("Think they won't harm you? Well they might/And that ain't right, but every day is like a fight" are the lines he chooses to describe kids on the subway in Brooklyn in "Transit Ride"), he delves into a variety of subject matter, from the problems of inner-city life to his own verbal prowess to self-improvement without ever sounding too repetitive, and his well-practiced flow fits well with the overall smooth, sultry, and intelligent feel of the album. From Jordan's solo on "No Time to Play" to Ayers' vibes expertise on "Take a Look (At Yourself)" to MC Solaar's quick and syllabic rhymes on "Le Bien, le Mal," Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 (and what turned out to be the best of the series) is a rap album for jazz fans and a jazz album for rap fans, skillful and smart, clean when it needs to be and gritty when that's more effective, helping to legitimize hip-hop to those who doubted it, and making for an altogether important release."

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Saint Etienne - Good Humour (1998)

2009-09-08T16:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Good Humor has Saint Etienne back cooking up more delectable lolli-pop. From "Woodcabin," the dubby, bass-heavy opener, Good Humor is a typically arch Saint Etienne album full of easy-listening dream pop. Tracks like the shimmering "Lose That Girl" and the swirling "Erica America" show Saint Etienne at its melancholic best. There are, predictably, some near misses such as the Beatlesque "Mr. Donut," which is as sweet as a strawberry field but fails to deliver the melodic promises made by the smart atmospherics. "Goodnight Jack," with its pastel-shaded flute loops and subtle breakbeats, has a positively cooler-than-cool feel and a wrenching change of pace toward the middle of the song. Sure, Good Humor is clever, perhaps overly so, and yeah, it's full of the Et's contrived coyness and we-know-more-than-you attitude, but it's good stuff. Sometimes you just want to put on a disc, sit back, and let it carry you off to someplace else. If that's all you're looking for, Good Humor is sweet ear candy."

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Polysics - Neu (2000)

2009-09-07T01:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"Will there be punk rock in 2050? Polysics pummels this question with an authoritative, "one, two, three, go!" before exploding into a crushing blast of spastic energy accented by insane, hiccupping electronic sound effects. The songs are concise, melodic and bursting with a twisted, angular intensity. If Cornelius was set on fire while fronting Brainiac, or Melt Banana was playing Wire and Devo covers in an arcade, it would probably sound something like this. Neu is marvelous, messy, and manic, with ballistic circus beats under fit-inducing raw crunches of guitar and psycho screams that may be too much for those prone to epilepsy. The pace is exhausting and the electronic squelches can border on annoying, but just when things start spinning out of control on Neu, the sleek, "What" brings the BPM down to half-speed for three-and-a-half minutes with a vocoder and sexy funk bass over a sound that resembles a dying Colecovision. Just before the song completely settles, it slams into an overdriven combination of synth loops, drum crashes, raging guitar, and a Japanese imitation John Lydon. There is a touch of camp factor involved, especially on the animé-influenced "Black out Fall Out," but the sugary cuteness balances out the raw, hard-to-stomach caffeine bursts for a wonderfully twisted adrenaline cocktail. If you are a fan of convulsive and hyperactive post-punk/new wave inspired music turned up full blast, treat yourself to a dose of this record. But, like coffee, it's well advised to start with just a little taste and work your way up from there: too much Polysics for a first-timer can result in a headache or a nervous twitch."

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Françoise Hardy - The Yeh-Yeh Girl from Paris (1965)

2009-09-06T11:37:00.002-04:00

From allmusic (4/5):

"From the Bardot-like cover shot of a windswept and gorgeous Françoise Hardy to the oddly chipper title, this 1965 U.S. debut (originally released on the proto-world music label Four Corners) is clearly pitched at the adventurous edge of the U.S. pop market, pitching Hardy as the Gallic Petula Clark. (Clark was, unbeknownst to the U.S. market at the time, making terrific French-language pop records herself at the time.) Complicating this, of course, is the fact that Hardy's music, for all its catchiness, is stripped down to its barest essentials -- acoustic and electric guitar, bass, minimalist drums, very little else -- and Hardy herself sings her (mostly self-penned) lyrics in an attractive but chilly drop-dead monotone that's far removed from the perkiness of almost every other female singer (minus Nico and Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las) of the '60s. Even the perkier tunes, like the enormous French hit single "Tous les Garcons et les Filles," have a measured, restrained quality. The Yeh-Yeh Girl From Paris is an outstanding record, but it's the '60s pop equivalent of Shaker furniture: free of ornamentation and exquisitely simple."

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Also:
Françoise Hardy - Ma jeunesse fout le camp...(1967)
Françoise Hardy - La question (1971)

Cocteau Twins - The Pink Opaque (1985)

2009-09-05T03:37:00.001-04:00

From allmusic (4.5/5):

"After having built up a considerable reputation in the U.K. and Europe, the Cocteaus first fully reached America via this compilation, cherry-picking some of the group's finest moments for this trans-Atlantic co-release between home label 4AD and then-stateside label Relativity. None of the ten tracks had been released in America before, but whoever assembled the release knew exactly what they were doing in terms of whetting appetites. The only absolute rarity on the disc was "Millimillenary," originally turning up on a compilation tape given away by New Musical Express. It's a fine number, recorded soon after Raymonde joined the group -- a good mix of the Cocteaus' instrumental lushness and Fraser's vocal acrobatics. The version of Garlands' "Wax and Wane" included here is slightly remixed and arguably even better than the original, bringing out everything a little more clearly and powerfully. A sage decision was the inclusion of all three tracks from the Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops EP; as flawless as that was, all deserved inclusion, while beginning the compilation with "The Spangle Maker" was also inspired. Other cuts include "Hitherto," "From the Flagstones," "Lorelei," and the then-recent single "Aikea-Guinea." Concluding with the similarly album-ending "Musette and Drums" from Head Over Heels, The Pink Opaque is a lovely taster for anyone wanting to discover the peerless early years of the Cocteaus."

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